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THE 


STORY OF 


THE 


BRITONS 




BY 


HUBERT 


M. SKINNER, Ph.D. 


AUTHOR OF 


"READINGS IN FOLKLORE," ETC. 




# 


• •• * • • • 

• • • • • • 

• « • •• 


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••• ••• • •• ••• • • ••• •»• ••• 


A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 


CHICAGO 


:: NEW YORK 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

JUN 12 1903 

(\ Copyright Entry 

CLASS a- xXa No. 
o / / S 
[ COPY 8. 



3<> 



COPYRIGHT, 1903 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 






• • « • • • 
• • • • 

■ » • » « « 



»-• • • 



TYPOGRAPHY BY 
MARSH, AITKEN A CURTIS COMPANY 
CHICAGO, ILL. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE 

In issuing this volume, which is the first Ameri- 
can book to set forth the legendary story of ancient 
Britain, the publishers have a double purpose in 
view. 

It is designed to supply for juvenile readers a 
companion volume to the stories of Troy and of 
/Eneas, which are so popular for supplementary 
reading and for school libraries. 

At the same time, it is intended to meet the needs 
of more advanced pupils, and of the public gener- 
ally, for a volume which will present the same nar- 
rative in its relation to literature, art, history, and 
the mythology of Greece and Rome. The story 
itself will appeal to young readers, who delight in 
tales which have a mythical flavor; while the 
author's critical judgment of the narrative, ex- 
pressed in running comments, and the correlation 
of the theme with the other subjects named, will 
be valuable to the student and to the general 
reader. 



O shadowy Kings of Britain, your tale is told! 
Your dim and spectral forms entrance us. Into the 
noonday of our time ye may not come. As if half 
awake we look upon you in the gray of the dawn 
or the dusk of the evening, when our eyelids are 
heavy and the air is drowsy with invitations to 
slumber. 

' It is the very witchcraft of history," says Henry 
Reed; "and as we read in these legendary annals 
the name of one king after another, they pass before 
the mind, visionary creations, like the shadows of 
the kings that the weird sisters showed to Mac- 
beth — one 'gold bound brow is like the first, a third 
is like the former' — and others more shadowy still, 
like the images of the many more reflected in the 
glass of the spectral Banquo.'' Yet through all the 
pathway of this legendary cycle, O modern histori- 
cal critic, should you not go? It will not be sun- 
light, but it will be always moonlight or starlight, 
and never so dark but that living forms, however 
shadowy, will be found all around you — hearts 
beating with human passions like our own, and 
hands that move to bless or blight with human 
motive, though the eyes be dim in the feeble glim- 
mer of their twilight world. 

"The Shadowy Kings of Britain." 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 9 

The Island of Albion ... » ....... 13 

The Trojans 19 

Brut . . 26 

Corineus 32 

Troy Novant 37 

Locrin and Guendolcena 48 

The Twenty Germans .... ...... 56 

King Lear 61 

Ferrex and Porrex ........... 74 

Belinus and Brennius ............ 81 

Artegal and Elidure .......... 89 

Lud ■ 94 

Cassivellaunus ...... . ...... 99 

Norma 107 

Cymbeline ...............117 

Arviragus 130 

Caractacus 137 

Boadicea 143 

The Lady Claudia 154 



8 CONTENTS 

Page 

Lucius 160 

Severus in Britain 167 

"Old King Cole" 174 

Vortigern . 182 

King Arthur 193 

The Royal Line of Ancient Britain . 218 

Notes of Criticism on Greek, Roman, and 

British Legends ........... 223 

General Notes 233 

Books for Reference and for Reading . 236 

Reigns of the Roman Emperors Mentioned 

in This Volume 237 

Pronunciation of Proper Names ."...*. 238 



PREFACE 

WHY should the legendary story of the ancient 
Britons be less familiar to American 
readers than that of the early Romans? Is it less 
connected with our literature? Is it less interest- 
ing in itself? Are we quite sure that it has less of 
truth for its foundation ? 

When the Romans entered Britain, about a half 
century before the Christian era, they found there 
a people possessing fortified towns, and employing 
superior arms and war chariots. They found a 
people who had traded for many centuries with 
the most progressive people of the Far East — the 
Phoenicians — and who had long possessed an 
alphabet. They found a priesthood singularly 
learned, whose course of instruction covered a 
period of twenty years, and whose system of 
culture carried to human perfection the art of 
memorizing, since they preferred that their learn- 
ing should be preserved in unwritten verse. 

So much for the "savages" whom the Romans 
found, according to popular conception. Those 
who would place the traditions of such a people 
in the same class with the vague and often 
meaningless tales of savage tribes, would seem to 
be biased in their judgment. 

9 



IO PREFACE 

In this presentation of the story of the Britons, 
from the period of the war of Troy to that of the 
Saxon conquest, it is by no means assumed that 
the narrative Is historical. Rather is it to be 
classed as folklore — which is the precursor of 
reliable history, and is often more interesting and 
profitable than history itself. 

In former centuries, the story of the Britons was 
included in the histories of England. The later 
historians, who have rejected it as history, have 
failed to make the same use of it that is now made 
of Roman and Grecian legends. Xo such dis- 
crimination has been made by authors in other 
departments of letters. As in the days of Lay- 
amon, and of Spenser and Shakespeare, so in the 
days of Wordsworth and of Tennyson, English 
bards have drawn upon ancient British legend for 
the subjects of great poems. 

Since the story of the Britons is excluded from 
consideration, even as folklore, in the histories of 
to-day, there is greater reason for its presentation 
in popular form for the general reader. In this 
volume the narrative of Geoffrey of Monmouth 
has been followed in the main, with such variations 
and additions as are found in certain notable 
literary compositions. Comments in aid of a true 
interpretation of the narrative are interspersed 
throughout the book. 

It would seem that the story should be of great 
interest to American readers. Every citizen who 



PREFACE 1 1 



bears the name of Morgan, or Jones, or Meredith, 
or Cadwallader, or Lloyd, or Davies, or Kellogg, 
or Griffith — or any one of a large number of 
familiar patronymics — may be deemed a descendant 
of the Britons. The Welsh are to-day among the 
leading miners and machinists of the world, as 
were their ancestors in Britain long before Rome 
became great and powerful. 

Should we not treasure as a legacy of the past 
the ancient folklore of that marvelous race, 
which has borne so important a part in the 
material development of our civilization, and which 
is so largely represented in the ancestry of our 
people ? 

H. M. Se 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



CHAPTER I 

THE ISLAND OF ALBION 

AGES and ages ago, before the twilight of his- 
tory had dawned, and before the people of 
the continent of Europe had even learned to 
write, little or nothing was known of the vast 
island which lay in the waters to the west. 

At that time the great world itself was little 
known to any one. It was assumed to be an 
immense flat body of land, set in the midst of an 
infinite ocean; for no one then believed the earth 
to be round, like a ball. Men thought that the end 
of the world w r as reached when they came to the 
end of this great body of land. They knew noth- 
ing of any region beyond. 

The people of Europe for a long time did not 
even attempt to find out anything about this island. 
Who would wish to go out of the world ? Were 
there not dangers and troubles enough in the 
world ? There were savage beasts and savage 
men, venomous serpents, and poisonous vines. If 
other worlds should be discovered, they might 

13 



14 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

contain beasts and men more savage still. And 
more terrible even than these were the creatures 
of the imagination; for it is the unknown that 
causes the greatest fear to imaginative and igno- 
rant men. 

From the mainland, on a bright day, a glimpse 
of the coast of Albion could be seen — a range of 
chalky cliffs, gleaming in the morning sunlight. 
But few, indeed, were the daring souls that ven- 
tured near; for the shining shore might be only a 
beacon set by the Evil One to lure men to destruc- 
tion. 

Very ancient legend tells us that this island was 
the abode of hideous monsters. It was covered 
with deep forests, and mighty trees shut out the 
light of day. Its rivers rolled sullenly to the ocean, 
sometimes spreading out into noisome fens and 
sloughs. It was well suited to be the home of 
giants. These, the legends tell us, were eighteen 
feet or more in height. When they walked, the 
earth shook under their tread. One of them 
could easily carry an ox upon his shoulder. It 
would have been rare sport for them to seize men 
by the hair and hold them out at arm's length. 

The giants were uncouth fellows, with long, 
shaggy hair falling down upon their shoulders. 
Their faces bore an ugly scowl. They liked the 
dark recesses of the woods, and the mountain 
caves, where they slept away the long hours of the 
day, awakening only to wreak vengeance upon any 



THE ISLAND OF ALBION 



15 




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l6 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

intruder, or to seek their prey for the horrid 
repasts of raw flesh in which they indulged. The 
few shipwrecked sailors who were thrown upon 
their shore were seized at once by these monsters, 
and carried to their king. 

This giant monarch was Albion. For his great 
size and strength he was made the lord and master 
of the island; and woe to the hapless person who 
incurred his wrath ! The giants called their coun- 
try the Island of Albion, for he claimed to own 
the whole of it, and no one dared to question his 
title. 

Albion, it was said, was the son of Neptune, the 
god of the sea. Neptune ruled over the ocean, 
riding about it day and night, as the commanders 
of great ships do to-day — only he could live and 
ride as well below the surface of the water as 
above it, and he spent much of his time in its 
depths. Old European pictures represent Neptune 
as riding in a sea-shell, drawn by sea-horses, and 
holding in his hand a three-pointed scepter called 
a trident, by means of which he ruled the waves. 

Perhaps it was thought that Albion's island had 
some right to the use of his father's scepter as a 
symbol; for the same old artists who drew the 
pictures of Neptune used to represent the island 
by drawing a picture of a woman seated upon a 
rock and bearing a trident in her hand. It has 
been remarked that this old picture was a sort of 
prophecy that the island would one day rule the 



THE ISLAND OF ALBION 



17 



sea. But these pictures were made many centuries 
after the dismal period of Albion's reign. 

A day was to arrive when the king of the giants 
should pass away. 
A great prince, in 
course of time, was 
to come to the isl- 
and and take pos- 
session of it. The 
giants were to fall 
before the prow- 
ess of the prince. 
Clearings were to 
be made in the 
dark forests to let 
the beautiful sun- 
light stream in. It 
was indeed a great 
day for the world 
when the advance- 
guard of a new 
race came to re- 
deem the landfrom 
its long and dread- 
ful night. 

More than three centuries ago, in the days of 
Queen Elizabeth, the English poet Edmund Spen- 
ser described the giants of the island in his poem 
'The Faerie Queene." The language of this famous 
poem is so quaint and old-fashioned that it is not 




Edmund Spenser 



1 8 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

always easy to understand, for our words and forms 
of speech have changed very much since Queen 
Elizabeth's time. Yet it is interesting to read this 
old poem. Here is a stanza from it, which tells 
about the giants: 

But far inland a savage nation dwelt, 
Of hideous giants, and half beastly men, 
That never tasted grace, nor goodness felt; 
But wild like beasts, lurking in loathsome den, 
And flying fast as roebuck through the fen, 
All naked, without shame or care of cold, 
By hunting and by spoiling liv-ed then, 
Of stature huge, and eke of courage bold, 
That sons of men amazed their sternness to behold. 



CHAPTER II 
THE TROJANS 

HOW long a giant might live, it is not easy to 
say. There is now no race of giants upon 
the earth. Now and then, people live to be a 
century old. Giants such as this story describes 
might live perhaps two or three times as long. 

Albion's life did not come to a natural close. 
Leaving his island, he passed over to the mainland 
of Europe, where he might prove if there were in 
the great world any beings who could equal him 
in strength. On the bank of the Rhone River he 
encountered Hercules, a gigantic mythical hero of 
the Greeks and Romans, of whom are related 
many of the most charming stories in ancient 
mythology. x\lbion was slain in the struggle, and 
his brother Bergion also lost his life. 
: Albion left in his island a son named Godmer, 
who grew to be as huge and as hideous as himself. 
Cxodmer must have been living a long time before 
the Trojan war; but he survived it for several gen- 
erations of men, and then came to his end by vio- 
lence, as we shall see later on. 

That was one of the most famous wars ever 
known in all the world. It occurred so very long 
ago that history says nothing about it. A great 

19 



20 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



poem, called the " Iliad" of Homer, which was 
composed and learned long before the time of 
writing, tells us a great deal concerning it. 

Far, far away, in what is now called Asia Minor, 
was the nation of 
the Trojans. Their 
capital city was 
called Troy, or 
Ilium, for it had 
two names. It was 
a wonderful city 
for those times, 
and the Trojans 
considered it the 
greatest capital in 
the world. They 
looked down upon 
the Europeans, as 
being uncivilized 
— as, indeed, the 
most of them were, 
though the Greeks 
were fast becom- 
ing a powerful and 
cultured people. 

Priam was a great and proud king of Troy; but, 
alas, it was his fate to see the utter ruin of his city 
and the destruction of his nation ! 

Priam's son Paris, who visited one of the Greek 
kings, was base enough to steal and carry away the 



rff^&SS 


fel 









Homer 



THE TROJANS 



21 




The Abduction of Helen 



22 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

wife of his host. The name of this queen was 
Helen, and she was known as the most beautiful 
woman in the world. The kings of the Greek 
states united to make war on Troy — to recover her, 
and to punish the crime of the Trojan prince. 

For ten years the city was besieged by the 
allied armies. At last it fell into the hands of the 
Greeks by a clever stratagem, of which perhaps 
you have read. It was night when the thousands 
of Greeks burst into the city, carrying everywhere 
the torch and sword, and destroying the houses 
and the people. 

Among the Trojans who escaped from the 
burning city was /Eneas, who carried his aged 
father upon his back and led his little boy 
Ascanius by the hand, till he reached the sea- 
shore. He then, with many other brave men, set 
forth in vessels upon the yEgean Sea, leaving far 
behind him the red- glare of the great fire. 

He did not land in Greece, for the Greeks were 
his enemies. On and on he sailed to the west- 
ward, over the vast Mediterranean, which seemed 
to him more immense than the ocean seems to us 
to-day. No such voyage had ever been made 
before. He did not know what lands he would 
reach. But he followed the star Venus, in the 
western sky, and came at last, it is said, to 
Carthage, an ancient city which stood where 
Tunis is now, on the coast of Africa. 

The Roman poet Vergil has related, in his great 



THE TROJANS 



23 






Latin poem called the "/Eneid," the story of this 
wonderful voyage. To make the narrative more 
interesting, Vergil tells us that /Eneas stopped at 
Carthage and visited Queen Dido, who fell in love 
with him, and killed herself when he left. It is a 
very pathetic story, and it is charmingly told in 
the "/Eneid." But the fact is that Queen Dido 
did not live until 
three hundred 
years after thetime 
of /Eneas; so that 
we shall waste our 
sympathy ,i f we 
allow the story to 
affect us. 

From Carthage 
/Eneas went to 
Italy, where he was 
well received by 
the king of the 
Latin country. His 
wife having per- 
ished at Troy, 'he accepted the king's offer of 
his daughter's hand in marriage. /Eneas re- 
mained in the fair land of Italy, where he was 
not molested by the Greeks, and where his 
descendants multiplied, handing down his mem- 
ories of their illustrious ancestors and of the 
heroic deeds of old Troy. One of his descend- 
ants was Romulus, who founded the city of Rome, 







^r 






Vergil 



24 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




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THE TROJANS 25 

which finally became the capital of all the known 
world. 

The Romans were very proud of their descent 
from the Trojans. In later ages the Greeks, who 
fancied themselves the only great people of the 
world, were apt to boast very much of their 
ancestors who fought in the Trojan war. And 
then the Romans would haughtily reply: "Yes, but 
we also are descendants of heroes who fought in 
the same great war. We are Trojans." 

How much truth there is in Vergil's story of 
yEneas, we do not know. Doubtless this poet made 
the most of all the old legends of the people that 
connected them with the East. The Romans had 
become powerful and wealthy in the time of 
Vergil, and it was a source of pleasure to them to 
believe the story, since it enabled them to claim 
as famous an ancestry and as old a civilization as 
the Greeks possessed. 



CHAPTER III 
BRUT 

/\_J^ NEAS did not find that the heroic struggles 
^TL> of his life were over when he ceased his 
wanderings and resolved to end his days among 
the Latin people of Italy. Lavinia, the beautiful 
daughter of the king, Latinus, had been promised 
to Turnus, the king of a neighboring nation called 
the Rutuli. At least, this was what Turnus 
claimed; and accordingly he made war upon the 
Latins. yEneas was ready to fight for his young 
bride, and proved, as ever, a gallant warrior. He 
defeated Turnus, and slew him with his own 
hand. 

After the death of Latinus, /Eneas succeeded 
him as king. /Eneas's son Ascanius undertook 
the building of a new kingdom, in the unoccupied 
country near by, and founded the city of Alba. 
Here a son was born to him, and named Sylvius. 

This son, when he became a young man, secretly 
married a niece of Lavinia. When Ascanius 
learned of this, he was much alarmed, for he 
heard at the same time a fearful prophecy con- 
cerning a grandson of his, yet to be born. The 
prophecy was to the effect that the child of Sylvius 

should destroy his own father and mother; but it 

♦ 26 



BRUT 27 

added that he should wander far over the earth, 
and should become eventually a great and 
illustrious hero. 

A son was born to Sylvius; but, alas, the mother 
died ! The child was a bright and promising boy, 
and loved his father, and little attention was given 
to the further fulfillment of the prophecy concern- 
ing him. His name was Brut — or Brutus, as he is 
called in the Latin language. 

When Brut was fifteen years of age, he was 
engaged one day in hunting, in company with his 
father, Sylvius, when a dreadful accident occurred. 
An arrow, which the boy aimed at a stag, glanced 
to one side and entered his father's breast. The 
bow had been strongly bent, and the wound was 
fatal. 

In the old days, the son who killed his father 
was deemed accursed, however innocent might 
have been his intent; and King Ascanius was 
compelled to banish his grandson from his realm. 

Thus at a tender age .the child of prophecy went 
forth alone into the great world. His mind was 
filled with thoughts of the illustrious deeds of 
i^neas, and he wandered away to the East, to 
learn what had become of that hero's old com- 
rades, if any survived, or of their descendants. 

He came at length to Greece, and found himself 
in the land of a king named Pandrasus. In this 
country there were the descendants of many 
Trojan captives, who were slaves — for the ancient 



28 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

nations made slaves of their prisoners of war. 
Brut enlisted as a soldier of the king, but took 
care to cultivate the friendship of all the Trojan 
slaves. He learned their grievances, and en- 
couraged their aspirations for freedom. He won 
fame in the army, for as he grew older he grew in 
power and skill. 

Doubtless the prophecy uttered before his birth 
encouraged Brut to prepare for a career as the 
liberator of an enslaved people, and the rebuilder 
of a great nation. The Trojans in Greece, how- 
ever, were so oppressed as to be unable to aid him 
in preparing for an uprising. He must have some 
help from a wealthy and influential Greek, if pos- 
sible. 

Fortunately, he found a suitable man in Assara- 
cus, the son of a Greek noble. The mother of 
Assaracus was a Trojan slave. His fathers other 
son was the child of a proud Greek lady; and 
while the father gave his wealth to both his boys, 
there was jealousy and enmity between them. 
Brut encouraged Assaracus to take great pride in 
his Trojan ancestry, and to espouse the cause of 
his kinsmen in bondage. 

Assaracus placed his castles at their disposal, 
and an uprising was speedily planned. Three 
thousand of the Trojan slaves suddenly assembled 
at these strongholds, and placed themselves under 
the command of Brut. The latter at once sent a 
message to King Pandrasus, demanding the 



BRUT 29 

immediate emancipation of his followers. This 
was denied by the king, who instantly led forth his 
army to suppress the insurrection. 

Brut managed to intercept and surprise him on 
the way. The armies met on the banks of the 
river Akalon — which may have been the Acheron, 
though critics do not identify any of this story 
with what is known of ancient Grecian history or 
geography. 

Here Antigonus, a brother of the king, was 
taken prisoner, together with his friend and 
companion, Anacletus. The royal army was 
repulsed. Brut placed a garrison in his strong- 
hold of Sparatinum, but kept his main force in the 
field or among the hills, where he might retreat if 
necessary. 

The king's forces advanced upon Sparatinum, and 
a furious siege ensued. Heavy engines of war 
were set to work to demolish the walls, and the 
garrison was threatened with destruction. 

Brut, learning of this, and not daring to risk a 
battle with even chances of victory, had recourse 
ro stratagem. He determined to secure, if possible, 
possession of the king's person at night. By a 
threat of instant death he compelled his two 
illustrious prisoners, Antigonus and Anacletus, to 
aid him in a clever scheme. 

In the dead of night Brut's army was to draw 
near in silence, concealed by the darkness. 
Anacletus was to advance to the sentinels of the 



30 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Greek camp, and tell them a pitiful story of the 
king's brother. 

"Antigonus," he was to say, "is bound with heavy 
chains. I succeeded in escaping with him, and 
have carried him nearly all the way here. I had 
to leave him at the edge of the forest, for I could 
carry him no farther. For heaven's sake, leave 
your post a few minutes, and bring him in." 

The stratagem succeeded admirably. The 
sentinels advanced without suspicion, and were 
quickly seized by the Trojans. Skillfully did Brut 
post his forces in the silence and darkness. Then 
at a given signal a rush was made, the king was 
taken prisoner in his pavilion, and the Greeks were 
overpowered as they awakened from sleep. 

King Pandrasus, like the Pharaoh of Scripture, 
consented now that the slaves should depart if 
they should so insist, but was willing to give them 
one-third of his kingdom if they would remain. 
To the latter the Trojans would not agree. The 
prophecy regarding their leader was to be fulfilled. 
He would prove another Moses, and would lead 
them to a land where they would build a new 
Troy, and revive the fame of their ancestors.. 

King Pandrasus gave them three hundred ships, 
and a large amount of gold and silver. More 
reluctantly, perhaps, he gave his daughter Ignoge 
to be the bride of the victorious Brut. 

The Trojans, like the Israelites, left their 
oppressors at once. As soon as possible the ships 



BRUT 31 

were loaded and manned, and sailed away from 
Greece, never to return. The last the Greeks saw 
of them was Ignoge, fainting in the arms of her 
brave young husband, as the vessels sailed out of 
the bay. 



CHAPTER IV 

COR1NEUS 

ON AND on sped the Trojan ships over the 
blue Mediterranean, which the fleet of 
^neas had traversed many years before. The 
long slavery of the Trojans was over. Under the 
leadership of the brave prince who had been sent 
to them in the fulfillment of prophecy, they were 
going forth to build a new Troy, and to establish a 
kingdom which should prove worthy of their 
illustrious ancestry. But where was it to be ? 
This they could not tell, but they were confident 
that Brut would be guided of heaven and would 
lead them aright. 

Fair winds blew, and the vessels held on their 
way without interruption, till they came to an 
island called Leogecia. No one knows any more 
about this island than about the places in Greece 
which have been mentioned in this story; but 
evidently it was one of the islands colonized by 
the ancient Greeks, for it contained a temple built 
in honor of some of the Greek gods. 

Brut landed, with some of his followers, and 
found that the island was uninhabited. The 
people had all been driven away, doubtless, by the 
pirates who infested the great sea. Appreciating 

3 2 



CORINEUS 33 

the solemnity of the occasion, Brut entered the 
temple in a pious spirit, and made a solemn offer- 
ing to Jupiter, Mercury, and Diana. 

To Diana he addressed himself especially. 
Four times did he walk about her altar, as he 
poured out a libation to her, after having com- 
posed and recited a poetical prayer which closed 
with the following verses: 

Look upon us on earth! Unfold our fate, 
And say, what region is our destined seat? 
Where shall we next our lasting temples raise, 
And choirs of virgins celebrate thy praise? 

He then lay down, in the shadows of evening, 
before the sacred altar, hoping to be favored with 
some answer to his prayer. Sleep came to him, 
and he lay in a dreamless rest until the third hour 
of the night. Then he awakened, or seemed to 
awaken, and saw, or seemed to see, the goddess 
standing before him, robed in white and radiant in 
beauty. Her face wore an expression of affec- 
tionate encouragement, and her words and tones 
were full of dignity. It was thus she spoke: 

Brutus, there lies, beyond the Gallic bounds, 

An island which the western sea surrounds, 

By giants once possessed; now few remain, 

To bar thy entrance or obstruct thy reign. 

To reach that happy shore, thy sails employ; 

There Fate decrees to raise another Troy, 

And found an empire in thy royal line, 

Which time shall ne'er destrov, nor bounds confine. 



34 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The spirit of the young prince was at once raised 
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and this he 
imparted to his followers when he related to them, 
on the following day, the story of his night's 
experience. 

On they sailed to the Philenian Altars, and to 
Salinae. Then they passed between Ruscicada and 
the mountains of Azara. But of all these places 
we know nothing. 

They came to Mauretania, where is now 
Morocco, on the north coast of Africa, and would 
have sailed through the strait into the Atlantic 
but for the sea monsters which threatened to 
wreck their ships. Then they turned back toward 
Italy, and landed somewhere on the shores of the 
Tyrrhenian Sea, not far from the realms of the 
Latins and the Albans. 

Here, to their surprise, they found people who 
spoke their language, and who proved to be, 
like themselves, descendants of the brave men 
of old Troy There were, in fact, no less than 
four little nations, or tribes, of these Trojans. 
Their forefathers had accompanied Antenor, 
so they said, in the years long gone. Sailing 
from the Trojan city toward the setting sun, 
they had found a land where they might escape 
slavery; and here they had prospered and multi- 
plied. 

Chief among the new-found friends of Brut was 
Corineus, a young man of marvelous strength and 



CORINEUS 35 

courage, who was destined to fill the world with 
his fame as a giant-killer. Such a man Brut would 
need in the island which he was to se-ek in the 
ocean; for the goddess had told him that some of 
the giants still remained there. Corineus agreed 
to accompany Brut, and a large number of the 
Trojans of the four kingdoms also joined the 
expedition. 

With many new ships and a vast company of 
men, women, and children, the fleet of Brut again 
set sail, and now passed through Gibraltar into 
the untried Atlantic. Turning northward in the 
ocean, they sailed across the Bay of Biscay, and 
came to the country of Aquitaine, which is now 
southwestern France. 

Landing here, they found themselves in the 
dominions of a king named Goffarius Pictus. 
Unfortunately, a quarrel arose. The dashing Cori- 
neus killed the kings general in a hand-to-hand 
fight. A great war followed, the principal battle 
of which was fought at Tours. Here Turonus, a 
Trojan hero, killed six hundred men with his 
heavy sword, cleaving their trunks, often, with a 
single stroke. 

The terrific contest over, Brut again set sail, and 
followed up the coast of Gaul until he saw, to 
the northward, the shores of the vast island which 
he was destined to rule. His voyage was ended. 
He had far outdone his great-grandfather, /Eneas, 
for he had sailed out of the world, and into the 



36 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

great ocean. Rome had not yet been founded; nor 
was it to be for centuries to come. A mightier 
hero than Romulus was this Brut, and an earlier 
by many generations. 



CHAPTER V 

TROY NOVANT 

WITH sails full-spread, and with banners 
proudly streaming, the Trojan fleet sped 
on, to the Isle of Albion. In the sheltered harbor 
of Totness, in what is now Devonshire, England, 
the ships came to anchor, and the multitude 
debarked upon the strand. 

No poem equal to the c< ^neid" has ever been 
written to describe the expedition of Brut, as 
Vergil related the exploits of yEnaes. Yet the 
landing of the Trojans in Albion is a subject 
possessing a high degree of poetic interest. It is 
connected with the first settlement of a vast island 
which was destined, after thousands of years, to 
be the seat of the greatest empire the world has 
ever known. 

Seven hundred years ago, indeed, the story was 
told in a long and remarkable poem by Layamon, 
an English priest. This has been considered the 
first narrative poem written in our language. 
Certainly it was the first one written after the 
Norman Conquest, which caused the old Anglo- 
Saxon to be gradually transformed into English. 
But our language has changed so greatly since 
Layamon's time, that you would scarcely be able 

37 



38 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



to understand one of its thousands of short lines 
without help. 

The poem is preserved to-day as a curious relic 
of old literature, and only a few patient scholars 
attempt to read much of it. Here is a paragraph 
taken from the beginning of the Second Book. It 
is the one most frequently used as a specimen of 
the whole. 

From Layamon's "Brut" 



Bn preost wee on leofcen, 
Xa^amon voce iboten: 
be wee Xeouenatbes sone; 
lltbe bim beo brtbten: 
be woneDe at ^Ernle^e, 
at aetbelen are cbirecben, 
uppen Seuarne statbe: 
sel tbat bim tbubte: 
on feet IRaOeetone, 
tber be bocft ra&De. 
1btt com bim on mofce, 
anD on bis mem tbonfte, 
tbet be wolfce of iBrxglc 
tba aetbelaen tellen, 
wat beo iboten weoren, 
ant) wonene beo comen, 
tba JEnglene lonDe 
aereet abten 
aefter tban floDe, 
tbe from eribtene com, 
tbe al ber a^quelDe 
qufc tbat be funDe. 



A priest was in the land, 
Layamon was he called; 
He was Leovenath's son — 
May he be blest! 
He lived at Ernley, 
At a noble church 
Upon Severn's bank. 
Good he thought it there, 
Fast by Radestone, 
Where books he read. 
It came to him in mind, 
And in his chief thoughts, 
That he would of England 
The noble deeds tell; 
What they were named, 
And whence they came, 
Who the English land 
First possessed 
After the flood, 
Which from God came, 
That destroyed all those 
Living whom it found. 



TROY MOVANT 39 

It was a pleasant experience for the Trojans to 
find themselves at last in a land which was to be 
their own. The shore at Totness was very agree- 
able to the view, and did not suggest the deep, dark 
forests of the interior. Here the Trojans gave them- 
selves up to rejoicing for a time, and made plans 
for the glorious future which they were to have. 

To Brut they gave all praise, and it was deter- 
mined at the outset that the land should be named 
in his honor. The hero's name had been pro- 
nounced in Greece very much as though it were 
spelt Brit> for the Greeks had always a Frenchy 
way of pronouncing the vowel u; and thus it came 
that the name which the Trojans gave to the land 
sounded very much like Britain. 

Probably the first plans of Brut related to the 
building of a city, which was to be the new Troy 
of the prophecy Q But ere he could arrange for 
this he was drawn into a contest with the hideous 
giants who disputed his possession of the land. 
Now it was that the wonderful skill and strength 
of Corineus were of the greatest service, Many 
are the stories told of this hero's contests with the 
terrible creatures. 

In the story-books Jack the Giant-killer appears 
as a boy. In the story of Brut he is a full-grown 
man, though not a very large man. His strength 
was wonderful, and his audacity astonishing. 
Giant after giant fell before his strokes, or became 
a victim of his cunning stratagems. 



40 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

One of the most ferocious of these giants was a 
huge fellow named Goemagot, who came one day, 
with twenty others, to a place near the shore 
where the Trojans were feasting. Brut and his 
followers determined not to show any sign of fear. 
The giants pretended to be good-natured, and 
challenged any one of the Trojan party to a 
wrestling match with Goemagot. Corineus volun- 
teered for a little friendly sparring, but was on the 
lookout for treachery. Goemagot grasped him 
with the grip of a vise, and broke three of his 
ribs — two on his right side and one on his left. 

Stung with pain, and maddened at the treachery 
of his huge antagonist, Corineus put forth almost 
superhuman strength, in the mightiest effort of his 
life. Catching the giant at a disadvantage, he 
toppled him over; and then, before the latter could 
recover himself, half carried, half dragged him to 
the cliff overlooking the sea, and hurled him down 
into the abyss The very place where this is said 
to have occurred is pointed out to this day. It is 
near Plymouth, England — the old city from which 
the Pilgrims sailed. It was long called "Lam 
Goemagot," which meant "Goemagot's Leap." 
The English call it the Haw; long ago the name 
was spelt Hogh. 

Another of the followers of Brut who won fame 
as a giant-killer was Debon, who contrived to 
induce the huge Coulin to jump across a deep pit 
more than one hundred and thirty feet wide. 



TROY NOVANT 



41 




o 
o 
< 

o 
O 

Q 

CO 

a 
g 

2 
o 
O 



42 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The giant cleared the pit at a leap, but on his 
return he tripped — as the clever Debon had 
planned — and tumbled into the chasm, where he 
was easily despatched. 

Another of the giants was Albion's son Godmer, 
who determined to kill Canutus, deeming him a 
dangerous enemy of the giant race. In his rage, 
Godmer hurled great boulders against him. But 
he only tired himself out by this kind of warfare, 
for the spry Trojan had no trouble in dodging 
the missiles of his slow and lumbering enemy, and 
finally found an opportunity to overthrow and kill 
him. 

The pit into which Coulin fell, and the enormous 
stones hurled by Godmer, are mentioned by 
Spenser in the " Faerie Queene," as witnesses of 
these storied contests of the early Trojans with 
the giants. Other supposed witnesses, many in 
number, are the fragments of huge skeletons 
which have been found from time to time in the 
historic ages, and which indicate the great height 
and strength of creatures that once lived in the 
island. 

Spenser's account of the war with the giants is 
contained in these quaint stanzas, which follow his 
first mention of Brut: 

But ere he had establish-ed his throne, 
And spread his empire to the utmost shore, 
He fought great battles with his savage fone, 
In which he them defeated evermore, 



TROY NOVANT 43 

And many giants left on groaning floor; 
That well can witness yet unto this day 
-t The western Hogh, besprinkled with the gore 
Of mighty Goemut, whom, in stout 'fray, 
Corineus conquer-ed and cruelly did slay, 

And e'en that ample Pit, yet far renowned 
For the large leap which Debon did compel 
Coulin to make, being eight lugs of ground, 
Into the which returning back he fell. 
But those three monstrous stones do most excel, 
Which that huge son of hideous Albion 
(Whose father, Hercules in France did quell), 
Great Godmer, threw in fierce contenti-on, 
At bold Canutus, but of him was slain anon. 

After the giants were killed, Brut rewarded the 
heroes who had conquered them To Corineus 
he gave the strip of seashore to the southwest, 
which long bore the name of its owner — a name 
that succeeding ages have corrupted into "Corn- 
wall." Debon's share of the island is now Devon- 
shire — not much changed in sound, as you will 
perceive. 

And now for the building of the city which was 
to become the seat of the world's greatest empire. 
Like the Troy of old, and like the Rome that was 
yet to be, this was not built immediately upon the 
seashore, but some miles from the sea, where a 
sluggish river broadened out, and the banks were 
level. When the site was once chosen, the city 



44 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

rose as by magic. The forests about it were 
cleared, and fields were sown. 

The town lay on the north bank of the river. " It 
was soon humming with industry. Its streets were 
thronged with people, its shops were filled with 
merchandise of Trojan art, its river-front was 
lined with boats laden with the stores of husbandry 
and the spoils of the chase. 

'Troy Novant," or "New Troy," was the name 
given to the rising metropolis. Its temples con- 
tained altars for the worship of the old gods of 
Greece and Troy, and its priests offered sacrifices 
to propitiate these divinities. The future great- 
ness of Troy Novant (London) was the constant 
theme of the Troynovantes, as we may call the 
people of the city. 

Thus in the dim twilight of time, long before the 
dawn of history, was founded the city which is the 
metropolis of the world to-day. Spenser says: 

For loyal Britons sprong from Trojans bold, 

And Troy Novant was built of old Troy's ashes cold. 

A thousand years later, when the Romans were 
conquering the island, they found the city inhabited 
by a brave and powerful people whom they called, 
in their histories, the Trinobantes. But that is 
about as near as the Romans ever came to getting 
the correct name of a foreign nation. 

The Romans held possession of Britain for 
several centuries; then came the Angles and 



TROY NOVANT 45 

Saxons; then the Danes, or Northmen; then the 
Norman French. And through all the long course 
of written history, from the Roman times to the 
present, the same city has remained a seat of gov- 
ernment, extending its power farther and farther 
over the world. What is called reliable history 
relating to Britain begins with the advent of the 
Romans, more than nineteen hundred and fifty 
years ago. But what of the thousand years, or 
more, before that time, which carry us back to 
Brut and to the founding of Troy Novant? 

We have the story that is told of all this long 
period. How much of it is true, no one can tell. 
The story was long believed, and was contained in 
the old histories of England. Since it is for the 
most part very doubtful, its true place is the realm 
of folklore. This is not reliable as history, but is 
often more interesting and picturesque; moreover, 
it gives us some idea of the peoples to whom it 
relates. Whatever were the original facts, they 
have been unconsciously varied in the constant 
retelling of the story, and colored by the mistakes 
of unscientific ages. 

We 4earn from scientists that the bones of 
supposed giants which have been unearthed in 
England are really the'bones of the mastodon and 
the mammoth — extinct animals like the elephant. 
Rarely is a complete skeleton of one of these 
extinct animals found. Here and there a bone or 
a few bones will come to light. The hind legs of 



46 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

the elephant have knees, like the knees of a man. 
Its leg-bones and its ribs, or those of the mastodon 
or the mammoth, might easily be mistaken for 
monstrous human relics, by a people knowing 
nothing of the science of comparative zoology. 
Probably it was the discovery of such bones that 
led to a belief in giants, in the first place. 

Critics tell us, moreover, that the name Albion 
came from the old Celtic word alb, or alp, which 
means a mountain or cliff, and which is to this day 
applied to the Alps Mountains in Central Europe. 
They tell us, too, that the word Britain was 
probably derived from an old Celtic word refer- 
ring to a custom which the Britons had of staining 
their bodies with the juice of a plant called zuoad. 
They deny that Cornwall and Devonshire derived 
their names from the friends of Brut. 

Then where did the Britons come from ? Their 
descendants — the people of Wales and Cornwall — 
cannot answer the question in a way to satisfy the 
critics. But we have the old, old stories which 
have been handed down for many ages, and which 
have been written in books for more than seven 
hundred years. And while, doubtless, they are 
full of mistakes, they are the only accounts we 
have of the time preceding recorded history. 
They are ours to read and to enjoy; and we may be 
sure that they contain something of truth, after all. 
Besides, they have become so related to literature 
that we cannot afford to be wholly ignorant of them. 



TROY NOVANT 47 

Let us follow, then, the story of Brut and his 
people, through the shadowy period before the 
Roman times; and as we follow it down to the 
period where history really begins, we may believe 
that it grows more probable and loses much of the 
fanciful character of the earlier chapters. 



CHAPTER VI 
LOCRIN AND GUENDOLCENA 

IF THE story of the early kings of Troy Novant 
is very doubtful, so also, it must be said, is the 
narrative of the early kings of Rome. It would 
seem that the ancient nations sought to match or 
to outdo one another in their pride of long descent 
from illustrious ancestors. 

When the Romans found the more cultured 
Greek nations boasting of their ancient heroes of 
the war of Troy, they remembered, or tried to 
remember, that they themselves were descendants 
of heroes of the same war. And when the Britons, 
a little before the time of Christ, began to feel the 
w r eight of the Roman arms, and to hear the boast- 
ings of a Trojan ancestry, they perhaps even then 
put forth the claim of a Trojan origin dating still 
farther back. 

The Romans claimed but seven ancient kings, 
about whom their stories centered. The Britons 
claimed scores of kings. The Romans claimed for 
the founding of their city a date which was seven 
hundred and fifty-three years before Christ. The 
Britons claimed tor Troy Xovant an antiquity 
greater by three centuries or more. 

The truth is that at the time of the Roman 

4 8 



LOCRIN AND GUENDOLCENA 4Q 

invasion of Britain, under Julius Caesar, the city of 
Rome was a great metropolis of perhaps a million 
inhabitants, while London (or Londinium, as the 
Romans called the chief city of the Trinobantes) 
was nothing more than a provincial town. 

Yet, for all that, the place may have been very 
old. One thing is clear: Whether the ancient 
Britons were really connected with the Trojans or 
not, they had enjoyed communication with the 
people of the Far East since the very earliest days 
of Rome; for Britain had been sought out for its 
tin by the Phoenicians in the days before Roman 
history began, and had traded with that shrewd 
and cultured nation of ancient Yankees when 
Rome was an unknown village of rude huts. The 
Phoenicians lived farther east than the ruins of 
Troy; and thus the Britons did have some con- 
nection with Eastern culture, at least as early as 
the Romans had. 

The story of Brut and his descendants who 
ruled over the Britons is briefly told in a remark- 
able poem entitled the "Polyolbion," by Michael 
Drayton — a noted English poet of the days of 
Queen Elizabeth. We hear little of Drayton now, 
though critics declare that he was worthy of a long 
remembrance. Drayton's "Polyolbion" (the name 
signifying "great riches") is a collection of "poems 
of place," and combines descriptions of localities 
in England and Wales with accounts of historical 
or legendary characters associated with them. 



50 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

It is interesting to read a few verses of this com- 
position, in order to learn something of the 
appearance and sound of a French poem; for the 
long lines called Alexandrines, in rhymed couplets, 
form the classic meter of the French, though they 
are not popular in English. In the Eighth Canto, 
or "Song," of the "Polyolbion" are the following 
lines, in which we note a feeling of pride in the 
legend that the British metropolis is some centu- 
ries older, even, than Rome: 

How mighty was that man, and mighty still to be, 
That gave this isle his name, and to his children three 
Their kingdoms in the same, which time doth ne'er decay, 
With his arrival here, and primer monarchy! 

• 
The ancient Britons yet a sceptered king obeyed, 
Three hundred years before great Rome's foundations laid; 
And had a thousand years an empire strongly stood, 
Ere Caesar to her shores here stemmed the circling flood. 

The kings of Troy Novant led tragic lives, from 
the beginning. King Brut had three sons, born of 
the beautiful Ignoge, whom we last saw fainting in 
the arms of her young husband, as her native land 
receded, from the ship in which she was borne 
away. 

These sons were Locrin, Albanact, and Camber, 
all of whom grew to manhood in the young city of 
Troy Novant. Ere Brut died, after his long life 
of great achievements, he ^Jivided his kingdom 



LOCRIN AND GUENDOLCENA 5 1 

among them. To Locrin, the eldest, was given 
the sovereignty of the realm. Camber was made 
lord of the mountainous tract to the west, which 
we now call Wales, but which the Romans called 
Cambria — as do the Welsh (with a little modifica- 
tion) to this day. To Albanact was assigned the 
northern country, which was named, in his honor, 
Albania (Scotland), from which "Albany" is 
derived. 

Locrin married Guendolcena, the daughter of 
Corineus the Giant-killer. She was a woman of 
great force of character, and was destined eventu- 
ally to act the role of a heroine. 

The reign of Locrin was disturbed by an inva- 
sion of barbarians from the north, who poured like 
a flood into the lands which the Trojans had 
cleared and made fruitful Humber was the 
leader of these hordes. The two kings met for a 
great battle upon the banks of the river anciently 
known as the Abus, where, after a long fight, 
Locrin was victorious, and Humber was driven 
into the river and drowned. The barbarian's 
name was given to the stream, and also to the 
country to the north, which is known to-day as 
Northumberland. 

Proud of his victory, the king returned to Troy 
Novant, where he developed a spirit of self- 
indulgence in no wise heroic. He surrounded 
himself with a showy court, and came to regard 
himself as amenable to no law of justice or of 



52 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

right. He began to neglect his queen, who had 
shared with him the toils of government; and he 
fell into temptation which so often besets a king 
who lives for pleasure. 

Among his captives in the war w r as a maiden 
named Estrild, for whom he conceived a strong 
passion; and though polygamy was not a custom 
of his race, he set a bad example by claiming her 
as his wife. She bore him a beautiful daughter, 
whose name was Sabrina. For some years Queen 
Guendolcena suffered in silence the affront placed 
upon her, and sought to win back her faithless 
spouse. It was of no avail. The king was 
immersed in his sensual pleasures, and thought 
nothing of his duty to his queen and to his people. 

Guendolcena retired to Cornwall, and deter- 
mined upon vengeance. Many of the citizens of 
Troy Novant were disaffected toward the king. 
They recognized in Guendolcena the strong spirit 
of her father, the Giant-killer, and they enlisted 
under her banner in full confidence of victory over 
Locrin. 

The king was greatly alarmed. He raised an 
army and marched forth to suppress the rebellion 
against his authority. Estrild and Sabrina — who 
had now become a young woman — accompanied 
him. 

It was a dreadful spectacle — the king and queen 
at war, and their partisans engaged in destroying 
one another. On the banks of a large river the 



LOCRIN AND GWENDOLCENA 



53 




4; 



< 

- 
< 
'Si 



54 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

battle raged. The king was taken prisoner, and 
his followers were scattered in flight. Estrild and 
her daughter made frantic efforts to escape from 
the angry queen, but without success. Estrild was 
seized as she was crossing a creek, and was slain 
before her daughter's eyes, notwithstanding their 
piteous pleas for life. As for Sabrina, she was 
hurled into the river, and rapidly borne away by 
the current. Ever afterward the river bore the 
name of this "sad virgin," who was in no wise to 
blame for the misfortunes of her life. The name 
is now corrupted into "Severn/' 

There is a notable painting by Frost, entitled 
"Sabrina," in which that unhappy maiden is 
depicted as a goddess of the stream, or symbol of 
the river itself. She is represented as being borne 
down the current beneath the surface, surrounded 
by her nymphs, who are as much at home under 
the water as in the air above. 

Guendolcena returned to Troy Xovant, to reign 
alone until her son Maddan, who was then a child, 
should reach the age of manhood. She was the 
first reigning queen of Britain, and one of the first 
in all the world. Britain has never exhibited a 
prejudice against the sway of a queen. Always 
her people have had memories of the beneficent 
influences of women in the purple, from the earliest 
reigns of prehistoric legend. 

According to one version of the story, Locrin 
was not killed, but was imprisoned to the end of 



LOCRIN AND GUENDOLCENA 55 

his days — the first of the many royal captives who 
have looked out between the bars of grated 
windows upon the river and the shore. In the 
tower where he was confined he had ample time to 
reflect upon the misspent years of his life, and the 
suffering which he had caused. 

It is interesting to note that the tragic story of 
Locrin's reign once formed the subject of a spuri- 
ous drama which bore the name of Shakespeare as 
its author. In spite of its romantic subject and of 
its high claim to authorship, the play was poorly 
written, and was soon dropped. 

Spenser says of the forceful British queen: 

Then [as] for her son, which she to Locrine bore, 
Madan was young, unmeet the rule to sway; 
In her own hand the crown she kept in store, 
Till riper years he raught [reached], and stronger stay; 
During which time her power she did display, 
Through all the realm the glory of her sex, 
And first taught men a woman to obey. 
But when her son to man's estate did wex, 
She it surrend'red, ne herself would longer vex. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE TWENTY GERMANS 

WHEN Maddan reached the age of maturity, 
Queen Guendolcena retired to Cornwall, 
leaving to him the throne of Britain. For forty 
years, it is said, he reigned in peace. His sons 
seem to have inherited the evil nature of their 
grandfather, Locrin. Their names were Mem- 
pricius and Malim. 

Scarcely was King Maddan dead when these 
sons began to contend with each other for the 
supreme power. 

Mempricius treacherously induced his brother 
to enter into a conference with him, and then 
murdered the prince before the eyes of the 
assembled ambassadors. The entire reign of 
Mempricius was marked with crime. He deserted 
his w r ife, and took up with guilty favorites. He 
murdered, secretly or openly, one nobleman after 
another, till there were scarcely any left in the 
kingdom. 

After twenty years of tyranny and vice unspeak- 
able, this monster came to his end. One day, 
when engaged in hunting, he withdrew from his 
attendants and descended into a valley, where .he 

was suddenly surrounded by a pack of ravenous 

56 



THE TWENTY GERMANS 57 

wolves, which tore him to pieces. He was suc- 
ceeded by his son Ebraucus, a young man of gigan- 
tic stature and marvelous strength. 

The new king was a prince of ambitious mind, 
and set about enlarging his kingdom. He was 
the first British sovereign to invade the mainland 
of Europe. He ravaged the coast of Gaul, and 
carried away rich treasures of gold and silver. 

Thtu turning his attention to the improvement 
of his kingdom at home, he built a new city far to 
the north, beyond the Humber, and named it 
Caer-Ebraucum. Centuries later the Romans 
corrupted the latter part of the name into Eboracum, 
from which has come the word u York." So the 
name of our own great metropolis, New York, 
may be traced all the way back to this legendary 
king. Still farther to the north he built Agned, 
now Edinburgh. 

The story of King Ebraucus is very strange. 
He took to himself twenty wives, by whom he had 
twenty sons and thirty daughters. The boys, when 
they were grown, all went to the interior of 
northern Europe, and the girls were sent to Italy, 
where they were eventually married. The twenty 
brothers created a great stir when they advanced 
into the northern lands. They became famous as 
"the twenty germans" The word meant, then, 
simply brothers, or near relations. We still use it in 
the latter sense when we speak of first cousins as 
cousins-german. 



58 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




< 



< 



< 

O 

h 

- 



THE TWENTY GERMANS 5Q 

The twenty germans were all ready for military 
adventure, and soon found it to their hand. They 
attracted to them the bright young men of the 
South, and with the assistance of these they 
conquered tribe after tribe. The country which 
they subdued was called, in their honor, Germany, 
as the legend relates. 

Ebraucus himself attempted to complete the 
conquest of Gaul, but miserably failed. His son, 
the second Brut, who followed him, was more 
successful. He acquired the surname Scuith 
Guiridh, which means "Greenshield," from the great 
emerald shield which he carried very conspicuously 
in battle. 

A long period of peace followed the reigns of 
these warlike kings, beginning with King Leil, 
who built the city of Caer-Leil, now New Carlisle. 
After him came Hudibras, who founded Caer-Lem 
(Canterbury), Caer-Guen (Winchester), and Pala- 
dur (Shaftesbury). The last named was built upon 
a mountain. While its walls were building, it is 
said, an eagle spoke with a loud voice, and was 
heard by many, who marveled at the miracle, and 
took note of the words spoken. But not even a 
hint has come down to us as to what the eagle 
said. 

Michael Drayton speaks thus of the building of 
ancient cities of Britain: 

Nor Troy Novant alone a city long did stand, 

But after, soon again, by Ebrauc's powerful hand, 



60 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

York lifts her towers aloft, which scarcely finished was, 
But as they, by those kings, so by Rudhudibras, 
Kent's first and famous town with Winchester arose, 
And others others built, as they fit places chose. 



CHAPTER VIII 
KING LEAR 

BLADUD, who next came to the throne, is 
notable among the legendary kings, both as 
a ruler of remarkable attainments, and as the 
father of Leir, or Lear, who is famous the world 
over as the hero of a great tragedy by Shake- 
speare. 

Bladud, it is said, was sent in his youth to 
Greece, to improve his education. The Greeks, 
even in that day, were more advanced in civiliza- 
tion than any other people of Europe. Many 
centuries later it became the custom of the Roman 
nobles to send their sons to Greece to be educated. 
The story of Bladud gave the Britons a claim to 
an earlier use of the opportunities for culture in 
the East; for Rome had not yet been founded. 

Bladud had a bright, inquiring mind, and he 
eagerly studied the civilization of the Greeks, 
imbibing their love for art and literature. It is 
said that at Athens he even excelled the priests 
who instructed him. 

Returning to Britain, he at once sought to 
interest his court in many lines of improvement. 
His attention was attracted to the springs dis- 
covered at a place which he afterward named 

61 



62 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Caer-Badon. The waters were found to possess 
medicinal virtues of a high order. He conceived 
the idea of building here a resort for health- 
seekers. His enterprise was highly successful. 
The place is now the city of Bath, world-famous 
for its healthful waters. He solemnly dedicated 
to Minerva the city and its springs, and erected 
there a temple for her worship. 

King Bladud lost his life in an attempt to fly; 
so the enthusiasts of to-day who are trying to 
perfect a flying machine may have an idea of the 
long, long time that this problem has been studied 
by their predecessors. The wings failed to support 
the adventurous king. He fell heavily upon the 
roof of the temple of Apollo in Troy Novant, and 
was instantly killed. 

The long reign of Bladud's son — King Leir, or 
Lear — was a period of peace and of prosperity. 
Only in his old age did misfortunes come upon 
him; but then they were of so cruel a nature that 
the readers of Shakespeare are inexpressibly 
saddened by their portrayal. Indeed, it is the 
feeling of many that Shakespeare's drama of 
"King Lear" should never be put upon the stage, 
because of its sadness. 

Lear had no son to succeed him, but he had 
three daughters — Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia — 
all of whom treated him with great respect, though 
the two eldest were wicked at heart, and feigned 
for him a love which they did not feel. Goneril 



KING LEAR 



63 



was married to the Duke of Albany, and Regan to 
the Duke of Cornwall. Cordelia, the youngest, 
was not married, but her hand was sought at the 
same time by the King of Gaul and the Duke of 
Burgundy, both of whom are represented as being 
present at the court 
at the time when 
the drama opens. 

The old king, 
feeling that his 
death could not 
be far off, rashly 
determined to 
abdicate, leaving 
the government 
to "younger 
strengths" for the 
remainder of his 
life, and maintain- 
ing, for his dignity, 
only a royal guard 
of chosen knights. 
Before making a 

division of his kingdom, he asked his daughters, 
separately, how much they loved him. 

Goneril fairly outdid herself in extravagant pro- 
fessions of love and loyalty. So fubome was her 
flattery that the king, had he not been old and 
childish, might have detected at once its insincerity 
and absurdity. But he did not. Regan, in her 




Cordelia 



64 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

turn, sought to go further, if possible, than her 
sister in her protestations. She had not words, 
she said, to express her love for him. The true- 
hearted and sensible Cordelia knew not what to 
say in competition with her sisters, and resolved to 
make no such attempt. She replied simply and 
sensibly that her love was what her duty bade, 
neither more nor less. 

The foolish king, instead of commending her 
sensible course, considered her wanting in affec- 
tion, and obstinate; and he warned her of his 
extreme displeasure. The honest girl repeated 
her statement; she insisted that a wife's love and 
duty were due in part to her husband, and that 
hers would be, when she should marry; and she 
showed her disapproval of the insincere and 
excessive laudations of her sisters. The old king, 
becoming enraged, excluded her from any share 
in his kingdom, which he divided between Goneril 
and Regan. Cordelia, though she had been his 
favorite child, was given to the King of Gaul as a 
dowerless bride, and left the home of her child- 
hood under the cloud of her father's wrath and 
her sisters' scorn. 

The Earl of Kent endeavored in vain to change 
the determination of the headstrong monarch; 
and though he had been a faithful friend and 
servitor of the king, he so aroused the royal fury 
that he was commanded to leave the kingdom 
within five days, on pain of death. 



KING LEAR 



65 




King Lear and His Daughters, — Sc limit z 



66 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



It was arranged that the king, after his abdica- 
tion, should retain his title while he should live, 
and that, with his retinue of a hundred knights, he 
should live alternately with Goneril and Regan. 
The two elder daughters, when they had secured 
from their aged father his power and wealth. 
ignored their former protestations of affection, 
broke their promises, and treated him with heart- 
less meanness, compelling him to discharge his 
body-guard, which was all he had left to remind 
him of his days of kingship. Finding life unen- 
durable with them, he turned to Cordelia, whom 
he himself had treated with such injustice. 

Cordelia, when she learned that her father had 
arrived in Gaul, wept bitterly to learn of his 
wretched condition, and at once sent to him a 
guard of honor, with a supply of money and of 
royal apparel. He was then received at court in a 
manner becotning his dignity, and an army was 
immediately raised to reestablish him upon his 
rhrone. 

The invasion of Britain was successful, and the 
old king lived to reign for three years more. 
When he died, Cordelia succeeded to the crown. 

She prepared for her father a singular burial 
place, under the bed of the river in the city of 
Leicester, which he had builded, and which had 
been originally named "Caer-Leir" (later, the Lei- 
cester of the Saxons). 

Cordelia did not remain long in power, but was 



KING LEAR 



6 7 



overthrown by her two nephews, who cast her into 
prison. Unable to endure her sorrows, she took 
her own life in her cell; and the unworthy nephew 
Cunedagius, having overthrown his cousin Morgan, 
reigned alone. 

In Shake- 
speare's dra- 
ma of "King 
Lear' the 
good Earl of 
Kent, though 
ill-treated by 
the rash king, 
disguises 
himself as a 
servant in or- 
der that he 
may remain 
and serve his 
royal master, 
a 1 1 unknown 
to him. The 
king's fool 
also remains 
faithful to 
him, and 
cheers him with his merriment, which often con- 
ceals a heavy heart. 

When the old king finds himself treated with 
neglect and insolence by Goneril, and repairs to 




William Shakespeare 



68 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

the home of Regan, he discovers that the former 
has preceded him, and has incited the latter to 
treat their father with even greater ignominy. 
Regan refuses to admit any of his guard. Though 
a storm is raging, the proud old man turns from 
her door into the rain and darkness, with only his 
fool for a companion. And thus upon the plain he 
is discovered by the Earl of Kent, who finds for 
him a shelter in a hovel where an insane beggar 
has taken refuge. 

In the morning, after the storm, the good earl 
conveys the half-crazed king to Dover Castle, 
where they take ship for France (Gaul). The 
meeting of the father and daughter is a beautiful 
and pathetic scene. 

In Britain Goneril and Regan develop their evil 
natures. Each is enamored of a wicked man 
named Edmund. When the husband of Regan 
dies, the widow indicates her intention to marry 
this adventurer; and Goneril, through jealousy, 
causes her to be poisoned. Goneril herself, her 
crimes being made known, commits suicide. The 
good earl remains with the king to the last. 

The Seventh Scene of Act IV of Shakespeare's 
drama portrays the interview between Cordelia and 
King Lear, when the aged sovereign first sees his 
daughter after taking refuge in France. 

In a tent in the French camp Cordelia, her phy- 
sician, and the Earl of Kent are present, with the 
aged king, who lies upon a bed, asleep. Soft music 



KING LEAR 



6 9 






— 

- 



< 

'J 

Z 



70 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

is playing, and the watchers are waiting for the 
sleeper to awaken. The scene is as follows: 

Cordelia. O thou good Kent, how shall I live and work, 

To match thy goodness? My life will be too short, 

And every measure fail me. 
Kent. To be acknowledge, madam, is o'er-paid. 

All my reports go with the modest truth, 

Nor more nor clipp'd, but so. 
Cordelia. Be better suited ;* 

These weeds are memories of those worser hours. 

I prithee, put them off. 
Ke?it. Pardon, dear madam: 

Yet to be known shortens my made intent. 

My boon I make it, that you know me not 

Till time and I think meet. 
Cordelia. Then be't so, my good lord. — How does the 

king? 
Doctor. Madam, sleeps still. 
Cordelia. O you kind gods, 

Cure this great breach in his abused nature! 

The untun'd and jarring senses, O, wind up 

Of this child-changed father! 
Doctor. So please your majesty 

That we may wake the king? he hath slept long. 
Cordelia. Be govern'd by your knowledge, and proceed 

T the sway of your own will. — Is he array 'd?* 
Gentleman. Ay, madam; in the heaviness of sleep 

We put fresh garments on him. 
Doctor. Be by, good madam, when we do awake him; 

I doubt not of his temperance. 

* Dressed. 



KING LEAR 7 1 

Cordelia. Very well. 

Doctor. Please you, draw near. — Louder the music there! 

Cordelia. O my dear father! Restoration hang 
Thy medicine on my lips, and let this kiss 
Repair those violent harms that my two sisters 
Have in thy reverence made! 

Ke?it. Kind and dear princess! 

Cordelia. Had you not been their father, these white flakes 
Did challenge pity of them. Was this a face 
To be oppos'd against the warring winds? 
To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder? 
In the most terrible and nimble stroke 
Of quick, cross lightning? to watch — poor perdu! — 
With this thin helm? Mine enemy's dog, 
Though he had bit me, should have stood that night 
Against my fire; and wast thou fain, poor father, 
To hovel thee with swine and rogues forlorn, 
In short and musty straw? Alack, alack! 
'Tis wonder that thy life and wits at once 
Had not concluded all. — He wakes; speak to him. 

Doctor. Madam, do you; 'tis fittest. 

Cordelia. How does my royal lord? How fares your 
majesty? 

Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o' the grave. 
Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound 
Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears 
Do scald like molten lead. 

Cordelia. Sir, do you know me? 

Lear. You are a spirit, I know; when did you die? 

Cordelia. Still, still, far wide! 

Doctor. He's scarce awake; let him alone awhile. 

Lear. Where have I been? Where am I? Fair daylight? 



~2 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

I am mightily abus'd. I should e'en die with pity. 

To see another thus. I know not what to say. 

I will not swear these are my hands. Let's see; 

I feel this pin prick. Would I were assur'd 

Of my condition! 
Cordelia. O, look upon me, sir, 

And hold your hands in benediction o'er me. 

No, sir, you must not kneel. 
Lear. Pray, do not mock me. 

I am a very foolish fond old man, 

Four-core and upward, not an hour more nor less; 

And, to deal plainly, * 

I fear I am not in my perfect mind. 

Methinks I should know you and know this man; 

Yet I am doubtful: for I am mainly ignorant 

What place this is, and all the skill I have 

Remembers not these garments, nor I know not 

Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me; 

For. as I am a man, I think this lady 

To be my child Cordelia. 
rdelia. And so I am, I am. 

Lear. Be your tears wet: yes, faith. I pray, weep not. 

If you have poison for me, I will drink it. 

I know you do not love me, for your sisters 

Have, as I do remember, done me wrong; 

You have some cause, they have not. 
Cordelia. No cause, no cause 

Lear. Am I in France? 

Kent. In your own kingdom, sir. 

Lear. Do not abuse me. 
Doctor. Be comforted, good madam: the great raq-e, 

You see, is kill'd in him; and yet 'tis danger 



KING LEAR 73 

To make him even o'er the time he has lost. 

Desire him to go in; trouble him no more 

Till further settling. 
Cordelia. Will 't please your highness walk? 
Lear. You must bear with me. Pray you now, forget and 

forgive; I am old and foolish. 

[Exeunt all but Ke?it and Ge?itlema?i. 



CHAPTER IX 

FERREX AND PORREX 

RIVALLO, the son of Cunedagius, succeeded 
to the throne of the Britons. In his time, it 
was averred, a red rain of blood fell from heaven. 
The people were frightened at this awful visita- 
tion The singular storm did not abate like an 
ordinary rain. For three days and three nights 
together the horrible flood continued, until pools 
of blood were everywhere found in the hollows of 
the land. The pools turned to sickening corrup- 
tion, and thousands of people died. 

If the strange prodigies related by the Britons 
were like those of other nations, it would be easy 
to claim that they were borrowed from the folk- 
lore of the world. But the rain of blood from 
heaven in Rivallo's day — like the speaking of the 
eagle in the time of Leil — seems to be peculiarly 
British. Probably the legends of both miracles 
relate to natural phenomena not understood. To 
peoples ignorant of natural science many unusual 
phenomena are deemed miraculous, and inspire a 
pious awe. 

Gurgustius followed Rivallo; then Sisilius; then 
Jago, the nephew of the latter; then Kinmarcus 
and, later, his son Gorbogudo, or Gorboduc. The 

74 



FERREX AND PORREX 75 

last-named is the subject of the first tragedy 
written in the English language. This was once 
very famous, and is still read with interest by 
many students of literature, though it is not now 
played in theaters. 

The family of the king was not a happy one. 
He had two sons, Ferrex and Porrex, both of 
whom were ambitious to succeed him. The queen, 
whose name was Viden, or Widen, was devoted to 
Ferrex, who appears to have been less ambitious 
than his brother. Both princes seemed to be 
impatient of the long rule of their father, and they 
gave him no rest until he divided his kingdom 
between them. This act appears not to have been 
a voluntary one, for some say that the sons 
imprisoned Gorboduc. At all events, he was shorn 
of all his power in the kingdom. 

The monster of ambitron gained complete pos- 
session of the heart of Porrex. He even plotted 
the assassination of his brother. The latter, 
through a friend, became aware of the design 
against his life, and made good his escape across 
the Channel. He was kindly received by Suard, 
the King of the Gauls. Suard soon led an army 
into Britain, to assert the rights of the exile. But 
the Gauls were no match for Porrex, who utterly 
defeated and scattered the invaders, in a single 
battle. Ferrex was among the slain. 

Queen Viden was aroused to madness at the 
death of her favorite son. It is altogether 



76 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

probable that her own life was not safe. At all 
events, she determined upon a terrible vengeance. 
Against the unlimited power of Porrex she 
matched her own cunning. She seems to have 
taken none of the soldiers or officers into her con- 
fidence Indeed, it would appear that she did not 
communicate her plan to any man. Perhaps she 
dissembled even her grief when in the presence of 
the young king. 

She secured the cooperation of some women of 
the court whom she could trust implicitly. Then 
when a favorable opportunity came, she succeeded 
in stealing into the chamber where the king lay 
asleep. Her women accompanied her, and were 
well armed. The infuriated mother buried an ax 
in the brain of the youth as he slept. Nor was 
she satisfied then with what she had done. Her 
attendants struck the dead body again and again, 
until it was literally hewn to pieces. 

Thus died the last descendant of Brut. The 
royal line became extinct. When the deed of 
Viden became known, there was a great uproar of 
the people. Gorboduc was dead. Viden alone 
remained to represent the royal power. There 
was a fierce feeling of resentment against her, and 
she was driven from the throne. Dire confusion 
long reigned in Britain, in the absence of any 
legitimate authority. Many false claimants arose 
and contended, one with another, for the supreme 
power. 



FERREX AND PORREX 



77 



The tragedy of "Gorboduc" was written nearly 
three and a half centuries ago, by Thomas 
Sackville, the Earl of Dorset, and was acted 
before Queen Elizabeth early in her reign. It was 
not like most English plays, for it generally 
followed the model of the Greek drama. 

It must be remembered that, while the ancient 
Greeks had theaters and 
plays hundreds of years 
before Christ, our English 
drama is not modeled after 
theirs, but had an inde- 
pendent origin. The Eng- 
lish drama began in the 
churches, as a means of 
educating the people in 
religious belief and knowl- 
edge; and its subjects 
were at first taken usu- 
ally from the Bible. This 
was in the time when 
books were scarce, and 
the populace could not read. 

In the Greek drama there was a chorus at the 
end of each act. The chorus was rendered in 
concert by a number of men. It consisted largely 
of comments on the scenes enacted, its purpose 
being to explain the play and to impress the moral 
upon the auditors. 

Sackville, being a classical scholar, deemed it 




Thomas Sackville 



78 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

best to imitate the Greek plays, and, accordingly, 
prepared choruses to follow the acts. Milton, like- 
wise, followed the Greek models in his drama 
entitled "Samson Agonistes," which was written to 
be read, not played. But these plays are excep- 
tional in English literature. 

Our drama — carried to the highest degree of 
perfection by William Shakespeare in the great 
days of Queen Elizabeth — has a form of its own, 
and is without the chorus. 

The part of Sackville's tragedy of "Gorboduc" 
which is best known to-day is the chorus of the 
fifth act, following the murder of Porrex. You 
will be interested to read the following lines of 
this chorus, since they show the pains taken in 
former days to impress upon the spectators the 
moral of the play: 

The lust of kingdom knows no sacred faith, 
No rule of reason, no regard of right, 
No kindly love, no fear of Heaven's wrath; 
But, with contempt of God's and man's despite, 

Through bloody slaughter doth prepare the ways 
To final scepter and accursed reign. 
The son so loathes the father's lingering days, 
Nor dreads his hand in brother's blood to stain! 

O wretched prince! Nor dost thou yet record 
The yet fresh murders done within the land 
Of thy forefathers, when the cruel sword 
Bereft Morgain his life with cousin's hand? 



FERREX AND PORREX 79 

Thus final plagues pursue the guilty race, 
Whose murderous hand, imbrued with guiltless blood. 
Asks vengeance still before the Heaven's face, 
With endless mischief on the cursed brood. 

The wicked child thus brings to woful sire 
The mournful plaints, to waste his weary life; 
Thus do the cruel flames of civil fire 
Destroy the parted reign with hateful strife; 

And hence doth spring the well from which doth flow 
The dread, black stream of mourning, plaint, and woe. 

With the exception of its choruses, our first 
English tragedy was written in blank verse. This 
form of versification was new in the English 
language, and had never before been heard upon 
the stage. Fortunately, it was adopted by Shake- 
speare, and has been the verse of our dramas in 
all succeeding periods. The French and the 
Spanish do not possess this form of poetry, and 
their tragedies are written in rhyme, which detracts 
from their merits, from our standpoint. Critics 
declare that we should be grateful to Sackville for 
the "emancipation" of our drama from the fetters 
of rhymed verse. 

One critic remarks how astonished he was to 
find in British legendary lore so admirable a plot 
for a tragedy as the story of Ferrex and Porrex, 
and says it "might have been a better direction to 
Shakespeare and Jonson than any which they had 
the luck to follow." 



80 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Spenser, in the "Faerie Queene," thus comments 
on the story: 

But O! the greedy thirst of royal crown, 
That knows no kindred, nor regards no right, 
Stirr'd Porrex up to put his brother down, 
Who, unto him assembling foreign might, 
Made war on him, and fell himself in fight: 
Whose death t' avenge, his mother merciless, . 
Most merciless of women, Wyden hight [named], 
Her other son last sleeping did oppress, 
And with most cruel hand him murd'red pitiless. 

Here ended Brutus' sacred progeny, 
Which had seven hundred years this sceptre borne, 
With high renown and great felicity; 
The noble branch from th' antique stock was torn 
Through discord, and the royal throne forlorn. 
Thenceforth this realm was into factions rent, 
Whilst each of Brutus boasted to be born, 
That in the end was left no moniment 
Of Brutus, nor of Britons' glory anci-ent 



CHAPTER X 
BELINUS AND BRENNIUS 

THE* royal line having become extinct, a new 
dynasty was established after a period of 
much confusion. Among the various chiefs who 
strove for the mastery was Dunwallo of Cornwall, 
who excelled all the others in native ability and in 
graces of person. He defeated his rivals in a great 
battle, and then commanded a body of picked men 
to array themselves in the armor of their slain 
enemies. Thus disguised, his soldiers had little 
difficulty in deceiving and surprising his foes in later 
engagements, in which he won continued success. 

Having overcome all opposition, he was crowned 
King of Britain. He determined that his reign 
should be famous for the triumphs of peace, and 
he sought to promote the advancement of his 
people in civilization and culture. 

Dunwallo is known as "the British Numa," in 
allusion to the second King of Rome, whose reign 
was marked by the establishment of Roman insti- 
tutions of great and lasting value. The British 
ruler procured for himself a crown of gold, as a 
symbol of greater refinement of the royal power. 
He prepared a code of laws which endured for 
centuries, being known as the Molmutine Laws. 

81 



82 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

He added solemnity and dignity to the worship 
of the nation's gods, and impressed upon the 
people the sacredness of the temples. The latter 
became places of refuge, where no violence could 
enter, and where fugitives were safe from pursuit. 
Later, even the highways leading to the temples 
were declared to be holy ground; and men who 
could not be otherwise deterred from violence 
were restrained on the sacred roads by the awe 
which they felt for the Power above. The plows 
of the farmers were likewise declared sacred, and 
thieves became afraid to steal them. 

After a beneficent reign of forty years, Dunwallo 
died, and was buried near the Temple of Concord, 
which he himself had built in the city of Troy 
Novant. 

He left two sons, who were destined to achieve 
great distinction, and to be remembered for ages 
with peculiar interest. Their names were Belinus 
and Brennius. Belinus became king, but gave to 
his ambitious younger brother a large part of his 
kingdom, to the north. After a few years, Brennius 
went to Norway and married the daughter of 
Elsingius, the Norse king. 

The lady had deen loved by Guichthlac, King of 
the Danes. The latter at once put to sea, and 
sought his rival. A great naval battle ensued, in 
which the royal Dane captured the ship containing 
the bride. In a storm which followed, Guichlac 
was separated from all the fleet except two Danish 



BELINUS AND BRENNIUS 83 

ships, and one other which he had captured from 
Brennius. With these he was driven upon the 
northern British coast. Here he fell into the 
hands of Belinus, who received him with great joy, 
having learned that Brennius was preparing to 
make a contest for the throne of Britain. 

Brennius soon arrived at home with his fleet, 
and demanded his wife and government, threaten- 
ing, in case of refusal, to lay waste the entire 
island. Both were refused, and a great battle 
followed, in which the forces of Brennius were 
routed. With a single ship and a few companions, 
Brennius made his escape from the kingdom. The 
Danish king was permitted to return home with 
his stolen bride, on condition of his paying an 
annual tribute to Belinus, and acknowledging the 
sovereignty of the latter over Denmark. 

Belinus now, following the course of his father, 
devoted himself to the building of great paved 
roads from one end of Britain to the other. 

Meanwhile, Brennius, who had fled to the south- 
east, went with twelve companions to the court of 
Seginus, a Celtic prince, where he won the favor of 
all the nobles, and took in marriage the daughter 
of his host. Within a year Seginus died, leaving 
no son to succeed him, and Brennius succeeded in 
making himself the leader of his wife's people, and 
of their allies. He soon arranged to invade Britain 
with a formidable following. 

Brennius and Belinus were about to engage in a 



84 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

terrible battle when their mother, Conwenna, suc- 
ceeded, by a strong appeal, in reconciling them 
one to another; and they entered Troy Novant in 
peace and friendship, there to plan for a grand 
career upon the continent of Europe. 

The scheme of the two brothers was carried out. 
They conquered the vast country of the Gauls. 
They invaded Italy; they even took the city of 
Rome. Here Brennius died, after a marvelous 
career of war and plunder, and Belinus returned 
alone to Britain. 

Rome in the time of Brennius was by no means 
the "terror of the world, " but its later greatness 
has caused the incursion of the Gauls to assume an 
exaggerated importance. 

William Warner, who lived in the great literary 
period of Queen Elizabeth, and was an English 
poet, though of no great merit, wrote a long poem 
entitled "Albion's England," which is still found 
in some libraries, but is little read. Concerning 
the sacking of Rome by Brennius, and other acts 
of that chieftain in Italy, Warner says as follows: 

The stateliest townes in Italie 

Had Brenn their builder, and 
Even Rome, the terror of the world, 

Did at his mercie stand. 

The Senate, giving to the earth 

Erewhile both warre and peace, 
Could not themselves, their citie, scarce 

Their Cappitoll release. 



BELINUS AND BRENNIUS 



85 




Brennius Sacking Rome 



86 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

This, with the god and goods, the Gawles 

Did put to sacke and spoyle; 
And whilst incamp-ed here they kept 

Such sacreligious coyle, 

That most did perish, fewe disperse, 

And all were out of harte, 
Yet Brenn himself, discourag-ed, 

Did change in every part. 

Belinus spent his last years in building up his 
kingdom at home. He founded upon the Usk 
River a city which he called Caer-Ose, but which 
the Romans at a later period renamed the City of 
Legions, from the legions of their soldiers who were 
quartered there. This is the Newport of our own day. 

He built at Troy Novant a large tower, with a 
gateway once known as Belinus's gate, which name 
became corrupted into "Billingsgate, " and has 
come down to us in that form. In recent centuries 
this spot has been famous as a fish-market, and has 
acquired an unfortunate reputation for foul and 
profane language. In fact, the word "billingsgate" 
is now used as a common noun, to mean coarse and 
indecent speech. 

The people of Britain grew in wealth and culture 
during the reign of Belinus. When he died, his 
body was burned, and the ashes were deposited in 
a golden urn, which was placed at the top of the 
great tower that he had built. 

How much truth there is in the story of Belinus 
and Brennius, we cannot know. Historians agree 



BELINUS AND BRENNIUS 87 

that the city of Rome was taken, and almost 
wholly burned, by a horde of northern invaders 
whom they called Gauls, about the year 390 b. c, 
and that the invaders consented to retire only 
upon receiving a heavy ransom. The leader of 
the invaders was called Brennus, but perhaps he 
did not come from Britain. When the Britons 
were conquered by the Romans, some centuries 
later, it may have been a matter of some consola- 
tion for them to believe that the old conqueror of 
Rome was one of their own princes. 

There is a story told in an old English drama 
about the sword of Belinus, which is worth repeat- 
ing. Swords, like men, had names in the old days, 
as it appears. The name of this sword was 
Trifingus. This ponderous blade, which had cleft 
the skull of many a warrior in its day, was hidden 
away in the heart of a mighty oak tree, where it 
remained for ages. Not till the power of the 
Britons was put forth for a last, desperate resist- 
ance to the Romans was it taken from its hiding 
place; and then it animated its possessors to the 
most heroic efforts to throw off the foreign yoke. 
You will read of this again, later on. 

The period of the great and good Dunwallo and 
his famous sons is thus described by Spenser in the 
"Faerie Oueene": 

Then up arose a man of matchless might, 
And wondrous wit to manage high affairs, 



88 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Who, stirr'd with pity of the stressed plight 
Of this sad realm, cut into sundry shares 
By such as claim'd themselves Brute's rightful heirs, 
Gather'd the princes of the people loose 
To taken counsel of their common cares; 
Who, with his wisdom won, him straight did choose 
Their king, and swore him fealty to win or lose. 

Then made he sacred laws, which some men say 
Were unto him reveal'd in visi-on; 
By which he freed the traveller's high-way, 
The church's part, and ploughman's porti-on, 
Restraining stealth and strong extorti-on: 
The gracious Numa of Great Brittany. 
For, till his days, the chief domini-on 
By strength was wielded without policy: 
Therefore he first wore crown of gold for dignity. 

Donwallo died (for what may live for aye?), 

And left two sons, of peerless prowess both, 

That sack-ed Rome too dearly did assay, 

The recompense of their perjur-ed oath; 

And ransack'd Greece well tried, when they were 

wroth, 
Besides subjected France and Germany, 
Which yet their praises speak, all be they loth, 
And inly tremble at the memory 
Of Brennus and Belinus, kings of Brittany. 



CHAPTER XI 
ARTEGAL AND ELIDURE 

GURGIUNT followed his father, Belinus, and 
was the second to wear the crown of gold. 
When the Danish king refused to pay the tribute 
which he had rendered in the preceding reign, 
Gurgiunt invaded and conquered Denmark. 
Many centuries later, when the land of Britain 
passed under the sway of the Danes, it was doubt- 
less pleasing to its inhabitants to boast that in 
their legendary days the conditions were reversed. 
As the victorious Gurgiunt sailed home from the 
scene of his conquest, he met a fleet of Spanish 
ships, on board of which an unfortunate band of 
exiles had passed a year and a half on the open 
seas. The wanderers begged him to give them a 
home in his kingdom, and he assigned to them an 
unoccupied tract of land in Ireland. Indeed, the 
legend declares that at this time Ireland was 
wholly uninhabited. Whatever may be the truth 
in this story of Irish colonization, it is accepted as 
a fact that the Irish people have a strong admix- 
ture of Spanish in their ancestry. The Spanish 
exiles called themselves Barclenses, and their chief 
Partholoim. 

Guithelin followed Gurgiunt, and reigned in 

89 



QO THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

peace and prosperity. Even more famous than he 
was his queen, Martia, whom Spenser calls 

A woman worthy of immortal praise. 

This royal lady was possessed of rare wisdom 
and learning, and a strong sense of justice. She 
fairly earned a place among the notable law-givers 
of the world. The Martian Laws, a code supposed 
to have been named in her honor, existed with 
little or no change for a vast period of time. A 
thousand years ago they were translated into 
Anglo-Saxon by Alfred the Great. 

Guithelin died, leaving a son, Sisilius, but seven 
years old. The great Queen Martia was made 
regent, and ruled during the minority of the 
prince; and again Britain learned to respect the 
sway of a woman. 

Sisilius was succeeded by his two sons, Kimarus 
and Danius; then came Morvidus, a depraved son 
of the latter king. 

Morvidus, though able, and handsome in person, 
was a man of furious temper and of bloody deeds. 
He tortured his prisoners of war, flaying them or 
burning them alive. He suffered an unusual pun- 
ishment for his crimes. A hideous monster came 
out of the Irish Sea, and, distending its horrible 
jaws, "swallowed him up like a small fish/' 

Morvidus had five sons, all of whom succeeded 
him in turn. Of these, Artegal and Elidure are 
familiar in our literature as the subjects of a beau- 



ARTEGAL AND ELIDURE 



91 



tiful poem by Wordsworth. Gorbonian was the 
first of the sons of Morvidus to reign, and ruled in 
righteousness and prosperity. Artegal, or Arth- 
gallo, who came next, surrounded himself with 
base companions, 
and despised the 
nobles of his court. 
He plundered the 
wealthy, and piled 
up a vast treasure 
through h i s op- 
pressive levies. At 
last endurance 
ceased to be a vir- 
tue, and his peo- 
ple rose in fury and 
drove him from the 
kingdom, placing 
on the throne the 
Pious Elidure. 

For five years 
the dethroned king 
wandered, a friend- 
less exile in foreign 
lands. His wicked 
deeds were ever 

before him, and he recognized the justice of his 
punishment. Then he could endure no longer to 
live away from his native land. He resolved to 
return in secret, and to hide in the forests, con- 




William Wordsworth 



Q2 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

tent to drink from Britain's springs and to live in 
penance upon the hard fare which a northern forest 
affords. To Britain he returned, his pride sub- 
dued, his heart bowed in penitence. 

King Elidure, when hunting in the forest of 
Calater, came suddenly upon the outlaw, and 
recognized him. The meeting seems more 
strange than the tales of fiction. There were no 
reproaches on either side. Elidure recognized his 
brother at once, and fell upon his neck in joy at 
the reunion. Secretly he took him to the city of 
Alclud; and there, feigning illness, he summoned 
his nobles from all the kingdom to attend him. 
Each noble, on entering his abode, was com- 
pelled on pain of death, to recognize Artegal as 
king. 

This act, so singularly contrasted with the ambi- 
tious rivalries of princes in all ages, won for 
Elidure the sobriquet of "Pious," by which he has 
ever been called. 

Artegal reigned ten years, setting an example to 
sovereigns by his virtue and benevolence. The 
story of these brothers does not deserve to be lost. 
Wordsworth happily chose it for the inspiring 
poem to which reference has been made. Of the 
restored king he says: 

Heart-smitten by the heroic deed, 

The reinstated Artegal became 

Earth's noblest penitent, from bondage freed 



ARTEGAL AND ELIDURE 93 

Of vice — thenceforth unable to subvert 

Or shake his high desert. 

Long did he reign; and when he died, the tear 

Of universal grief bedewed his honored bier. 

Thus was a brother by a brother saved. 

The Pious Elidure was now called to the throne 
a second time, and ruled in wisdom. His two 
remaining brothers, Vigenius and Peredure, con- 
spired against and overthrew him, imprisoning him 
in a tower at Troy Novant, and dividing his king- 
dom between them. After seven years Vigenius 
died, and Peredure reigned alone. Strange to say, 
he now developed an ability which won universal 
praise; and the virtues of the Pious Elidure were 
little remembered in the prosperity of the new 
reign. 

But Peredure came to a sudden death; and then 
the hearts of the people turned again to the good 
King Elidure, who came forth from his prison bent 
and gray,, but serene in spirit, and finished the 
work of his life upon the throne which he had 
twice relinquished. 



CHAPTER XII 



W 



LUD 

HEN Elidure had passed away, the succes- 
sion came to the son of Gorbonian. 

Singularly, all the 
five brothers of the 
generation of Eli- 
dure had reigned; 
and as though to 
make a strange 
story still stranger, 
it is related that 
their thirty -two 
sons and grand- 
sons succeeded; 
but of the most of 
these we have only 
the names. 

This is a myste- 
rious and suspi- 
cious gap in the 
story that has come 
down to us. John 
Milton, the great 
poet of the Reformation, who wrote " Paradise 
Lost," wrote also a history of England, and in- 

94 




John Milton 



LUD 95 

eluded in it the story of the legendary kings of 
Britain, feeling that he had no right to omit it, 
since it seemed to him to contain much of truth. 
Yet he showed impatience when he came to write 
of these reigns. A score of the very shadowy 
sovereigns he speaks of as "twenty kings in a row, 
who either did nothing, or lived in ages that wrote 
nothing — a foul intermission in the author of this, 
whether history or fable, himself weary, it seems, 
of his own tedious tale." 

One of the twenty was Blegabred, who "excelled 
all the musicians that had been before him," we 
are told. But we have not a note or a word of 
one of his songs. It is said that he both played 
upon instruments and sang. This is very probable, 
since the ancient Britons were fond of metrical 
compositions, and much of their learning was 
transmitted by means of these. 

The aged Heli is remembered as having reigned 
for forty years, and as having reared two sons of 
great renown, who succeeded him. These sons 
were Lud and Caswallon. The former, it is 
claimed, gave his name to the city which is now 
the greatest metropolis of the world; the latter 
achieved immortal fame in a contest in arms 
with the greatest man in human history — Julius 
Caesar. 

The reign of Lud is singularly lacking in inci- 
dent. "Happy is the nation whose history is dull," 
is an adage often repeated. Years of peace and 



96 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

prosperity do not interest the reader as do periods 
of great calamity and suffering. The reign of Lud 
was a time of material advancement and benefit to 
his people, but the accounts which we receive of it 
are not possessed of much narrative interest. 

Lud rebuilt, on a large scale, the wall which sur- 
rounded Troy Xovant, or Trinovantum, as it came 
to be called. Doubtless he realized that a period 
was approaching when the capital must defend 
itself against foreign invasion. In the walls were 
many towers, which gave the city an imposing 
appearance. Beyond the walls he built a number 
of similar structures. He encouraged the leading 
men of his kingdom to build large and luxurious 
residences in the city. 

Nor were Lud's efforts confined to one city. 
Various others were the objects of his care and 
pride. But his chief place of residence continued 
to be Trinovantum, and he continued to improve 
it to the day of his death. 

One of the gateways of the city seems to have 
been especially notable for its size and adornment. 
At all events, it was near to this that he was 
buried. It was called by the Britons Parth-Lud, or 
the Gate of Lud. Later, when the country was 
conquered by the Saxons, this was changed to 
Ludes Gate (Lud's Gate). And now the place 
where the great gate stood in ancient days is 
called Ludgate, and is a noted quarter in London. 

The fame of Lud became so great, and the city 



LUD 97 

was so benefited by his rule, that (as many believe) 
his name replaced the one which the city had 
borne for so many centuries, and Trinovantum 
became Caer-Lud, or Lud-town. It was changed 
to "London" by foreign conquerors; and when, 
after long ages, the Norman-French obtained pos- 
session of the city, they called it "Londres," by 
which it is known in France to this day. It should 
be said, however, that there is another explanation 
of the origin of this name, which has no connection 
at all with the name of the king. 

Lud had two sons, Androgeus and Tenuantius; 
but when he died they were too young to carry on 
the work which he had left unfinished, and their 
uncle, Caswallon, succeeded to the throne, giving 
to them positions of responsibility second only to 
his own. Caswallon's name in Roman history 
appears as Cassivellaunus, for which reason the 
latter form of the word will be used hereafter. 

Some of the quaint stanzas of William Warner 
relating to Lud and his predecessors are amusing 
to us from their antique spelling. In the following 
it will be noted that the Britons are called "Bru- 
tons" — a fact which indicates the poet's firm belief 
that the name was derived from the legendary 
founder of their kingdom: 

A many kings whose good or bad 

No wrighter hath displaide 
Did follow. Lud and Hely, for 

Their stately buildings made, 



98 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Rest chiefly famous. Nor forget 

King Blegabred I shall, 
Whom Brutons did their glee-god, for 

His skill in musicke call. 



CHAPTER XIII 



CASSIVELLAUNUS 

WITH the reign of Cassivellaunus the written 
history of the Britons begins; for in the 
time of this king 
the mighty Roman, 
Julius Caesar, led 
into Britain an 
army of invasion, 
and, as was his 
habit, he wrote a 
careful account of 
the expedition, 
with descriptions 
of the country and 
its people. The 

Commentaries " 
of Caesar, fortu- 
nately, have been 
preserved, and 
they are read in the 
original Latin by a 
greater number of 
students in each 
succeeding age. 

It must not be supposed that the Britons in 
Caesar's day were without a written language. For 

99 

L.cfC. 




Julius C/esar 



IOO THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

many centuries, as has been stated before, they 
had traded with the Phoenicians, a very advanced 
and enterprising people of the Far East, who 
had carried their alphabet to distant lands; and 
no doubt the memoranda of business transac- 
tions of the Britons had been generally written, for 
ages. 

But their learning was left largely to the priests, 
the Druids, who for some reason preferred that 
their knowledge of the past, and of the sciences 
in which they were learned, should be handed 
down orally. Their store of knowledge was 
preserved in the form of verses, which were com- 
mitted to memory and learned by rote by their 
novices. 

When speaking of the youths who were sent to 
the Druids for instruction, Caesar says, in the four- 
teenth chapter of the Sixth Book of his "Commen- 
taries on the Gallic War": 

* They are said to learn by heart a great number of 
verses; accordingly, some remain in the course of train- 
ing twenty years. Nor do they deem it lawful to commit 
these to writing, though in almost all other matters, in 
their public and private transactions, they use Greek 
characters. That practice they seem to me to have 
adopted for two reasons: because they neither desire 
their learning to be divulged among the mass of the 
people, nor those who learn to devote themselves the 
less to the efforts of memory, relying on writing; since 
it generally occurs to most men that, in their dependence 



CASSIVELLAUNUS 10 1 

on writing, they relax their diligence in learning 
thoroughly, and their employment of the memory. 

It was in the year 55 b. c, that this Caesar, then 
a great and powerful military leader of the 
Romans, crossed the Channel from the mainland 
of Europe, intending to conquer the Britons and 
to make of their country a Roman province. He 
landed near the cliffs of Dover, where his army 
was met by a large and determined force of British 
soldiers. 

Caesar has left on record, in the Fourth Book of 
his " Commentaries/' an account of the superior 
equipment of the British soldiers, the terror inspired 
by their war chariots, and the bravery with which 
they sought to repel the invasion. Though he 
defeated them in repeated engagements, he found 
it would be very difficult to conquer them; accord- 
ingly, he did not advance very far from the 
shore, but readily accepted their offers of peace, and 
left them. 

The next year Caesar returned to Britain, bring- 
ing with him thirty thousand foot-soldiers and two 
thousand cavalry. The story of this invasion is 
told in the Fifth Book of his "Commentaries." 
The Romans again defeated the Britons in various 
engagements, and advanced into the country for 
some distance back of the river Thames. They 
compelled the Britons to agree to pay tribute, and 
to give hostages as a guarantee that they would 
keep their agreement. 



102 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Then the Romans withdrew, as before. For 
ninety-seven years they did not repeat their 
invasion; and the story of the Britons during all 
this long period again rests upon legend, rather 
than upon written histories. 

There was, however, a permanent relationship 
established between Britain and Rome. As hosta- 
ges, the Britons sent to the great capital the chil- 
dren and other relatives of many of their prominent 
men. Certain Roman officers and a growing num- 
ber of Roman traders made Britain their home, 
and looked after the interests of the empire. 

Legend tells us that when Caesar first invaded 
the country, a brother of the king, named Nennius, 
w r as struck at by Caesar himself, but caught the 
saber stroke upon his shield, and that the sword 
sank so deeply into the shield that the owner 
could not pull it out again, and thus the weapon 
became a British prize. Nennius, however, soon 
afterward died from another blow which Caesar 
gave him. He was buried with many honors near 
the north gate of the capital, and Caesars sword 
was placed in his tomb. 

When the second invasion came, Cassivellaunus 
drove into the river-bed huge piles of iron and 
lead, to prevent the passage of Roman boats up 
the stream. 

The legend further tells of a serious quarrel 
among the British chiefs, which was most unfortu- 
nate for their country. After the first encounter 



CASSIVELLAUNUS IO3 

in this second war with Caesar, the Britons, deem- 
ing themselves the victors, held a grand celebra- 
tion at Trinovantum, which city was under the 
immediate command of Androgeus, the king's 
nephew. All the great nobles were present, and 
special sacrifices were offered up to the gods, amid 
general feasting and rejoicing. 

Among those who took part in the games were 
Hirelglas, another nephew of the king, and 
Evelinus, a nephew of Androgeus. The two young 
men were opponents in a wrestling match, and 
afterward fell into a dispute as to who was the 
victor. The contention became very fierce; and 
the quick-tempered Evelinus, suddenly grasping 
his heavy sword in a transport of rage, struck off 
the head of Hirelglas at a blow. 

So sudden was the act, and so unexpected, that 
those who saw it were bewildered. Androgeus, 
being in command of the city, held that it was his 
right to judge the murderer. The king maintained 
that the judgment lay with himself, as the 
sovereign. Androgeus, being deeply offended, and 
claiming that the act of Evelinus had been acci- 
dental or else in self-defense, wrote to Caesar, 
offering to make common cause with him. He 
then closed the city against the king. 

Cassivellaunus happened to learn what Andro- 
geus was doing, and at once began a siege of 
Trinovantum; but when he discovered that Caesar 
was moving forward, he went to meet him, and 



104 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Androgeus followed. Then the king was between 
two foes, and was at a great disadvantage. He 
was thus easily defeated. 

Caesar's version of the story is that a man named 
Mandubratius, whose father had been king of the 
Trinobantes, persuaded his followers to offer to 
the Romans the surrender of their city; that the 
Romans went forward to the town, which they 
found "admirably fortified by nature and by art," 
and took it with little opposition, securing with it 
a great number of cattle; and that, when the 
Romans made their treaty with the defeated 
Britons, the victors exacted a promise that 
Cassivellaunus should not make war on Man- 
dubratius or the Trinobantes. 

In all probability these varying accounts both 
refer to the same events, and Mandubratius is but 
another form of the name Androgens. To us the 
two words have a very different sound; but the 
philologists, who look at them scientifically, find 
them so similar that they might easily be varia- 
tions of the same name. The story illustrates the 
relation of legend to history. 

Even the historians are not always to be relied 
upon, as the following story of this campaign, 
which is told by Polyaenus, a Roman writer of 
history, will show: 

A great river in Britain [doubtless the Thames being 
intended] was obstructed by the horses and chariots of 
Cassivellaunus. Caesar had with him a huge war 



CASSIVELLAUNUS 105 

elephant, covered with scales of iron, and carrying on 
his back a great tower filled with slingers and with men 
throwing darts in every direction. Neither man nor 
horse of the Britons had ever before seen such an animal; 
and as Caesar sent it forward among the enemy, the huge 
monster inspired such terror that the Britons fled in wild 
confusion before it, the terrified horses plunging madly 
in their endeavors to escape. 

Had any such occurrence really taken place, 
Caesar would undoubtedly have mentioned it. 

Androgeus is said to have left the country, in 
company with Caesar. Cassivellaunus lived seven 
years longer, and died, and was buried at York. 
Tenantius, the brother of Androgeus, succeeded 
him. 

The British story of Caesar s invasion is told in 
the following stanzas from Spenser's "Faerie 
Queene," which follow a mention of Androgeus 
andTenuantius: 

Whilst they were young, Cassibalane, their erne 
Was by the people chosen in their stead, [uncle] 

Who on him took the royal diadem, 
And goodly well long time it govern-ed, 
Till the proud Romans him disquieted, 
And warlike Caesar, tempted with the name 
Of this sweet island, never conquer-ed, 
And envying the Britons' blaz-ed fame, 
(O hideous hunger of dominion!) hither came. 

Yet twice they were repuls-ed back again, 
And twice renforced back to their ships to fly; 



106 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The whiles with blood they all the shore did stain, 
And the gray ocean into purple dye. 
Ne had they footing found at last perdy, 
Had not Androgeus, false to native soil, 
And envious of uncle's sovereignty, 
Betray'd his country into foreign spoil. 
Nought else but treason from the first this land did foil, 



So by him Caesar got the victory, 
Through great bloodshed and many a sad assay, 
In which himself was charg-ed heavily 
Of hardy Nennius, whom he yet did slay, 
But lost his sword, yet to be seen this day. 
Thenceforth this land was tributary made 
T' ambitious Rome, and did their rule obey, 
Till Arthur all that reckoning defray'd: 
Yet oft the Briton kings against them strongly sway'd. 



CHAPTER XIV 
. NORMA 

THOSE who love good music are apt to know 
something of Norma, whose sad story is the 
subject of the beautiful opera by Bellini which 
bears her name. 

The aim of this opera is to give a picture of the 
ancient Druids, or priests of the Celtic people in 
Britain and south of the Channel. The religion 
of the Britons and Gauls was remarkable in many 
ways. The Druids were not only the priests, but 
also the teachers and the judges of the people, 
and were looked upon with much awe. Their 
temples were circular in form, and were built of 
huge blocks of stone. They had altars for bloody 
sacrifices. The best example of their temples 
that has come down to us is seen to-day in Stone- 
henge, on Salisbury plain. 

The priests were learned in many lines of study — 
though, as stated in a previous chapter, their 
knowledge was not committed to writing, and we 
have no means of knowing how far advanced they 
were. They were fond of ceremonies, and by 
means of these they greatly impressed the people, 
and sometimes even awed the Roman soldiers. 

Some of the old popular festivals of the English 

107 



io8 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




NORMA IOQ 

people are believed to have been handed down 
from the Druids. Among these are May-day, 
Midsummer Eve, and the Harvest Home. When 
we hang May baskets upon the doors of our 
friends, and deck our churches with sheaves and 
garlands from the harvest of the year, we are 
probably keeping up observances of two thousand 
years ago, though we have changed their forms to 
some extent, and have forgotten all about their 
origin. 

The Druids held that the oak tree was sacred, 
and that the mistletoe, which grows upon it, was 
more sacred still. The holy places of the Druids 
were in groves of oak trees, and here they 
delighted to live. Doubtless they were much 
impressed by the fact that the mistletoe does not 
have roots in the ground, but lives upon the 
branches of the oak, drawing its nourishment 
from the sap of the tree. 

The Druids were fond of snow-white robes, 
which were a symbol of purity of life. They were 
stern in their punishment of offenses, and often 
burned alive those who had transgressed their 
laws. They offered sacrifices of animals to their 
gods, and even human sacrifices were not wanting. 

The gathering of the mistletoe was a notable 
occasion. The priests and people collected about 
the tree on which the plant was discovered to be 
growing. Songs were sung, and a priest in white 
robes cut off pieces of the mistletoe with a golden 



no 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



sickle. Two other priests, in robes of white, held 
outstretched a snowy mantle to receive the pieces 
as they fell. Two spotless white heifers were 
immediately killed at the altar, and were offered 

up. The day was 
passed in solemn 
marches, in sing- 
ing, and in feast- 
ing. 

The worship of 
the Druids, it will 
be seen, offered a 
fine subject for an 
opera, for it sup- 
plied scenes of 
great interest and 
beauty; and the 
period of the Ro- 
man conquest, with 
i t s tragic effect 
upon so many 
thousands of lives, 
was a time well 
suited for repre- 
sentation upon the 
stage. Vincenzo Bellini — a musical composer of 
Sicily who lived in the first half of the last century 
— made use of the subject. His opera is composed 
in Italian, but is familiar in all cultured nations. 
A beautiful air from this opera, entitled "Casta 




Vincenzo Bellini 



NORMA III 

Diva" (Chaste Goddess), was the first sung by Jenny 
Lind when that noted singer visited America. 

The scene is laid south of the Channel, in Gaul; 
but it applies quite as well to Britain as a picture 
of life in the days of the Druids. The incidents 
and characters are imaginary; yet they may be 
very much like the actual events and the real 
persons of many a sad story of that day; only the 
story has not come down to us, and we are left to 
work it out in our imagination. The time is a few 
years after the invasion of Julius Caesar. 

Norma, a beautiful young woman, is a high- 
priestess — the daughter of Oroveso, the arch- 
Druid. Both father and daughter are held in 
great reverence by the people. Norma, especially, 
is deemed the medium through which the will of 
heaven is to be revealed to them. She has taken 
a solemn vow never to marry, but to live and die 
a virgin of the temple. The penalty for a violation 
of her vow would be a frightful one; but no one 
dreams of this as he looks upon her noble face and 
waits for her to speak the commands of her god. 

For some time the people have been ready to 
rise against their invaders and expel them. The 
growing tyranny of the 'Romans has become 
intolerable, and the chiefs are impatient for the 
renewal of the war. They are looking for Norma 
to give the signal. To their surprise, they find her 
always insisting upon delay, and exhorting them 
to patience. 



112 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Pollio is the Roman commander. He is a man 
of the world, ambitious for the growth of Roman 
power at whatever cost. Yet he is capable of a 
tender love, which is not wholly subjected to his 
ambition and selfishness. To the Britons he is an 
object of hatred, and they cannot understand why 
they are sternly forbidden to rise against him. 

Pollio has noted from the first the power which 
Norma holds. He is a man of fascinating manners, 
handsome, young in years, and accomplished, 
representing the polish of the Roman capital. He 
has sought secretly to make a conquest of Norma's 
heart, and, alas! he has succeeded. Norma has 
given him her heart and hand, in violation of her 
sacred vows. She has become the mother of two 
sweet children, whom she tenderly loves. Doubt- 
less the wily Roman has promised to take her to 
Rome, where they will be safe from the stern laws 
of the Druids. 

Of Norma's double life, and of her children, the 
people know nothing. The secret is carefully 
maintained. It is to Pollio's interest that it should 
be, since he depends upon Norma to repress the 
popular spirit of the rebellion. 

But Pollio is fickle, and has become smitten with 
the beauty of another young priestess, named 
Adalgisa. To her he has pledged his heart, 
promising her, likewise, that he will take her to 
Rome, and painting in fine words the glories of the 
capital city of the world. Adalgisa has yielded 



NORMA 113 

somewhat to his advances; but when she considers 
her vows as a priestess, she is stung with remorse, 
and goes to Norma to confess her sin. 

Norma is aroused to fury at the perfidy of Pollio, 
who chances to come upon them at that time, and 
who retires in dismay before the wrath of the 
wronged woman. Norma has suffered much, and 
has wronged her people grievously for his sake; 
and his abandonment of her now removes her last 
hope of happiness with him and with her children. 
She resolves to crush the Romans. To do this she 
must destroy her little ones, in order that her people 
may not know that she is an unfaithful priestess. 

But as Norma approaches the bed where the 
children are lying, folded in each other's arms, she 
is moved to love and pity. She cannot find it in 
her heart to strike the blow, and the uplifted 
dagger falls upon the ground. She resolves, now, 
to give herself up for punishment; and she 
summons Adalgisa, to intrust the little ones to her 
care, telling her to take them with her to Rome, 
in company with Pollio. 

The noble-hearted Adalgisa calms the fury of 
the high-priestess, and promises to bring Pollio 
back to her, if possible. She will plead with the 
Roman to take Norma, instead, to Rome with their 
children, to live in happiness. 

Norma is filled with delusive hope, which is soon 
dispelled. She learns from a confidential attendant 
that Pollio is determined to secure Adalgisa; and 



114 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

in a burst of fury she rushes to the sacred shield 
and gives the long-deferred signal for war. The 
people, who have waited for this so long and so 
impatiently, rush to the temple to hear the com- 
mand of their beloved high-priestess. Priests and 
warriors gather in great excitement. 

At the same time Pollio, fearing that matters are 
coming to a crisis, has entered the very penetralia, 
or most holy place, of another temple, where 
Adalgisa is, intending to seize her by force; and 
has been arrested and carried away by the 
attendants of the priests. He is now dragged 
into the presence of Norma. 

Oroveso is about to plunge a dagger into the 
breast of this profane violator of the temple, when 
Norma interposes. Even now her love for the 
Roman moves her to interfere in his behalf, and 
she declares that she must be the executioner, but 
that she must first question him as to his accom- 
plices; and so she dismisses the rest, and remains 
for the last time alone with her husband. Pollio 
will not, even now, promise to escape with her to 
Rome, if it shall be possible. He is infatuated with 
Adalgisa; and Norma, in a burst of rage, threatens 
to denounce both him and the young priestess. 

Again the priests, warriors, and people assemble, 
in great excitement, to hear from the lips of the 
arch-priestess the doom of Pollio, and to learn who 
is to suffer with him. In the awful silence she 
arises to speak the fatal judgment. In that 



NORMA 115 

moment all the consequences of her own sin rush 
upon her mind. Adalgisa, though listening to 
temptation, has not been sinful in act. It is not in 
the heart of Norma now to convict her. But there 
is no escape from the punishment of some one. 

Norma slowly takes from her own forehead the 
priestly wreath of purity which she long has falsely 
worn, and throws it upon the ground. With firm 
voice she declares that she, herself, is the guilty 
one who must suffer with Pollio. 

Her father, Oroveso, and the other priests 
implore her to contradict what she has said; for 
it is an appalling confession from one whom they 
have regarded as saintly in life, the special 
medium of their god in his messages to men. The 
fires are ready for the sacrifices, but Norma faces 
them without shrinking. The stern punishment of 
the Druids must be meted out to the sinner. She 
firmly reiterates what she has said, and gives her- 
self up to her doom. 

Pollio's better nature asserts itself at the 
moment of death, and his old love for Norma 
returns. Norma throws herself into the arms of 
Oroveso for a last, long, affectionate embrace, 
having commended to him the care of her children, 
and ascends the funeral pyre with Pollio, hoping 
that the punishment of fire will purge their sin, 
and that they will be reunited in a better world. 
A noble duet by Norma and Pollio, in the closing 
scene, is thus rendered in the English libretto: 



Il6 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Norma. The deep affection 

Too ill-requited, — 
The burning passion 

So foully slighted, — 
Yet seek to teach thee, 

False-hearted Roman, 
The faith of woman 

Beyond the grave. 
Eternal ages 

Shall o'er us gather, 
Expire, and find us 

Still linked together; 
The heart that won me, 

In love to languish, 
Death's lesser anguish 

With me must brave. 

Pollio, My soul, too tardy, 

Knew not to love thee; 
Sublimest angel, 

Too late I prove thee! 
Remorse hath probed me, 

Where truth was sleeping; 
Its purest weeping 

Thy hand shall lave. 
To our great failing, 

The purging given 
Shall consecrate us 

For after Heaven. 
Death's terrors vanish, 

When thou canst bear them, 
With thee to share them, 

Is all I crave! 



CHAPTER XV 
CYMBELINE 

WHILE Tenuantius reigned, his son Cymbeline, 
or Kymbelinus, spent much of his time in 
Rome, where he was a sort of hostage, and where 
he was educated in the learning of schools and in 
the art of war. Living in luxury in the great city 
which was the capital of the world, he became 
strongly tinctured with Roman ideas, and was 
much attached to the emperor, Augustus Caesar. 

On the death of his father, Cymbeline reigned in 
Britain. Only the briefest mention of his reign is 
found in the legendary history Yet for several 
reasons he is prominent among the old British 
sovereigns who are remembered. 

It was in the time of Cymbeline that Jesus Christ 
was born. Of course the king knew nothing of 
this event at the time. Perhaps in all his life he 
never heard the Saviours name. It was a mere 
coincidence. But the birth of Christ is the starting- 
point in the chronology of to-day, in all Christian 
nations; and every date we write upon a letter 
reminds us of the remoteness of the time in which 
the Saviour lived. In the same manner we can 
always fix the time of Cymbeline, for our years 

are dated from a period in his reign. 

117 



Il8 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

His name, too, is a subject of interesting specula- 
tion. From the earliest historic times in Britain, 
the Campbells of Scotland have been a noted 
family. No one knows how far back is the origin 
of their name. It is believed by many that 
"Cymbeline" is the same name; that it was 
perpetuated by the descendants of this king, being 
slightly changed in the course of ages by a modi- 
fication of the first vowel, and the dropping of the 
last syllable. 

Shakespeare's powerful drama of "Cymbeline," 
however, has been the chief agency in perpetua- 
ting and popularizing the name of this ancient king. 
The incidents, including the war with Rome, and 
nearly all the characters of this drama as well, 
are imaginary. However, it is designed in the 
drama to reproduce the British life of that period, 
and thus the play is not without historical value. 
The story of the drama is full of interest, and may 
be briefly given as follows: 

The king's two sons, Arviragus and Guiderius, 
were stolen in their infancy. His daughter, 
Imogen, was brought up by a stepmother, who was 
a scheming, ambitious woman, and who designed 
to bring about a marriage between Cloten (her 
own son by a former marriage) and the princess. 
Imogen, however, was true to her own heart's 
choice, and privately married Posthumus, an orphan 
who had been brought up at the court and had 
been her playfellow from infancy. 



CYMBELINE IIQ 

The wrath of the king was kindled when he 
learned of his daughter's marriage to a subject; 
and though Posthumus was a worthy gentleman, 
and the best scholar in the kingdom, he was 
immediately banished. When he parted from his 
young bride, she gave him a diamond ring, which 
he promised ever to keep; and he clasped upon 
her arm, as a parting gift, a beautiful bracelet, 
which she wore at all times, 4ay and night, in 
loving remembrance. 

Posthumus went to Rome, where, unfortunately, 
he became acquainted with a villainous young man 
named Iachimo. Posthumus was wont to boast of 
the beauty and fidelity of his bride, and became 
the subject of some bantering in reference to her. 
Provoked at this, he was led to lay a wager upon 
her honor, and Iachimo resolved to put this to the 
test. Posthumus was so certain of the faithfulness 
of Imogen that he did not see any harm in allowing 
Iachimo to try to disprove it. 

Iachimo visited Britain, where Imogen received 
him kindly, as her husband's friend. The princess, 
however, resented any attempts on his part to 
make love to her. Then Iachimo, determined' to 
win his wager, was base enough to slander her. 
He succeeded in entering her chamber unobserved, 
and hid himself in her trunk until she had retired. 
Then in the night he stealthily arose, and unclasped 
the bracelet from her arm. He made note of 
everything in the room, including the pictures on 



120 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




The Theft of Imogen's Bracelet. — Lzezen-Mayer 



CYMBELINE 121 

the walls. Returning to Rome, he claimed his 
forfeit, showing the bracelet which he declared 
Imogen had given to him in her room, and 
describing the apartment in detail. 

Posthumus, crazed at the tidings, cursed his wife, 
and gave her ring to his false friend. He even 
wrote to a friend in Britain, named Pisanio, and 
desired him to meet Imogen at a certain place and 
assassinate her. Pisanio — feeling sure that Posthu- 
mus would repent of his rash vengeance — met 
the princess with kindness. He advised her, for 
protection, to assume the garb of a young man, 
and to go to Rome and meet her husband. Acting 
on this advice, Imogen dressed herself as a youth 
and assumed the name of Fidele. Then she started 
on her lonely and dangerous journey to the coast. 

In passing through a forest she came to a cave. 
Having lost her way, and being weary and faint 
from travel, she entered the cavern, which she 
found unoccupied, though it contained some food, 
and evidently was used as a dwelling. Two 
young men soon came to the cave, and welcomed 
the tired stranger. Afterward, they went away 
for a hunt, and Imogen, in her weariness, drank 
of a potion which Pisanio had given her to pro- 
duce a restful sleep. 

The young men, returning, found her in a 
deathly stupor. Supposing that their guest was 
dead, they removed the body from the cave and, 
in the depths of the forest, covered it with leaves 



122 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 







CYMBELINE 1 23 

and flowers, and sang a funeral chant — the one 
which they had sung as a funereal honor to their 
mother. 

Awakening from her stupor, the bewildered girl 
found herself alone in the dark woods, and again 
sought the coast. Meanwhile, war had broken out 
between the Romans and the Britons, and a 
Roman army had landed in Britain. Posthumus 
was with the army, but intended to desert it and 
aid his countrymen. He cared nothing for life, 
but rather courted death. Imogen met the army 
ere she could reach the coast; and as she appeared 
to be a bright young man, she was accepted by the 
Roman general as his page. 

The two young men of the cave, whose names 
were Guiderius and Arviragus, went with Belarius, 
their supposed father, to fight for the king. These 
three, w r ith Posthumus, fought so bravely as to 
save the day for the Britons in the battle which 
followed. Imogen and her master were taken 
prisoners, and were brought before the king. 

Posthumus surrendered himself to one of the 
king's officers, and was brought into the royal 
presence to receive judgment for disregarding his 
sentence of banishment, in his return to Britain. 

The meeting of all these before the judgment 
seat of the king forms a very interesting scene in 
the drama. Posthumus did not know T Imogen in 
her male attire, but the young men of the cave recog- 
nized their strange guest whom they had buried. 



124 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Posthumus — though he had saved the king's 
throne, and even his life, in battle — hoped that this 
would not be considered, and that he would be 
sentenced to death. The Roman general, expect- 
ing death for himself, begged that the life of his 
page might be spared. 

The king gazed tenderly upon the fair face of 
Imogen, drawn by a fascination which he could 
not have explained; and, as a token of favor, 
offered to grant the supposed young man what- 
ever request the latter should make. Much as 
Imogen would have liked to ask for the pardon of 
her good master, she chose, instead, to demand of 
lachimo, who was present, how he obtained the 
ring which he was wearing. 

The king commanded that lachimo should tell 
this, under penalty of instant torture. The villain 
made a full confession. Then Posthumus, over- 
whelmed at the recital, related how he had (as he 
thought) procured the assassination of his innocent 
wife. 

Imogen now revealed herself to her husband and 
to her father, both of whom were overjoyed at 
her return to them. Then, since confessions were 
in order, Belarius confessed that his supposed sons 
were really the sons of the king, who had been 
stolen in their infancy. All wrongs of the past 
were forgiven, and the royal family were at last 
happily reunited, after their strange vicissitudes. 
The Roman general was released, and a favorable 



CYMBELINE 1 25 

peace was concluded with Rome. All were 
fortunate and happy save the wicked queen, who 
died soon afterward. Her son Cloten had been 
slain by Guiderius, in a duel brought on by his own 
provocation. 

Shakespeare's drama, as previously stated, is 
intended to be rather a picture of life in Britain in 
the Roman period, than a portrayal of actual 
events. Its author made good use of the scanty 
materials which he derived from legend and from 
history. "He is careful," says Henry Reed, "to 
preserve a certain degree of British independence, 
while Roman influence or supremacy is also 
recognized; and with regard to national character, 
he shows, in the Italian villain of the play, how 
thoroughly demoralized the Roman people had 
become — how much they had lost of the high and 
heroic part of their nature in the low and irreligious 
sensuality of their Epicurean philosophy. 

"On the other hand, the poet has shown, in the 
Britons of the play, the good and evil which 
pertain to an imperfect condition of civilization. 
He has elevated our thoughts of ancient Britain 
by adorning it with the character of Imogen, one 
of the loveliest of that matchless company of 
women who have had their life and being in the 
drama of Shakespeare." 

In the Second Scene of Act IV of Shakespeare's 
play occurs the following dialogue. Guiderius 



126 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

and Belarius are in front of the cave, from which 
Arviragus emerges, bearing in his arms "Fidele" 
(Imogen), the supposed youth, who appears to be 
dead. The scene portrays the simple funeral 
honors paid to their unfortunate guest. Arviragus 
and Guiderius are called Cadwal and Polydore, 
their real names being unknown to them at this 
time. 

Guiderius. Is Cadwal mad? 

Belarius. Look, here he comes, 

And brings the dire occasion in his arms, 
Of what we blame him for. 

Arviragus. The bird is dead 

That we have made so much on. I had rather 
Have skipp'd from sixteen years of age to sixty, 
To have turn'd my leaping-time into a crutch, 
Than have seen this. 

Guiderius. O sweetest, fairest lily! 

My brother wears thee not the one half so well 
As when thou grew'st thyself. 

Belarius. O melancholy! 

Who ever yet could sound thy bottom? find 
The ooze, to shew what coast thy sluggish crare [boat] 
Might easiliest harbour in? — Thou blessed thing! 
Jove knows what man thou might' st have made; but I, 
Thou died'st a most rare boy, of melancholy. — 
How found you him? 

Arviragus. Stark, as you see: 

Thus smiling, as some fly had tickled slumber, — 
Not as death's dart, — being laugh'd at; his right cheek 
Reposing on a cushion. 



CYMBELINE I 27 

Gnideriits . Where? 

Arviragus. O' the floor, 

His arms thus leagued: I thought he slept, and put 
My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness 
Answer' d my steps too loud. 

Guiderius. Why, he but sleeps; 

If he be gone, he'll make his grave a bed: 
With female fairies will his tomb be haunted, 
And worms will not come to thee. 

Arviragus With fairest flowers, 

Whilst summer lasts and I live here, Fidele, 
I'll sweeten thy sad grave; thou shalt not lack 
The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor 
The azur'd harebell, like thy veins; no, nor 
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, 
Out-sweeten'd not thy breath: the ruddock would, 
With charitable bill, — O bill, sore-shaming 
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie 
Without a monument! — bring thee all this; 
Yea, and furr'd moss besides, when flowers are none, 
To winter-ground thy corse. 

Guiderius. Prithee, have done; 

And do not play in wench-like words with that 
Which is so serious Let us bury him, 
And not protract with admiration what 
Is now due debt. — To the grave! 

Arviragus. Say, where shall' s lay him? 

Guiderius. By good Euriphile, our mother. 

Arviragus. Be't so: 

And let us, Polydore, though now our voices 
Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground, 
As once our mother; use like note and words, 
Save that Euriphile must be Fidele. 



128 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Guiderius. Cadwal, 

I cannot sing: I'll weep, and word it with thee; 
For notes of sorrow, out of tune, are worse 
Than priests and fanes that lie. 

Arviragns. We'll speak it, then. 

Belarius. Great griefs, I see, med' cine the less; for Cloten 
Is quite forgot. He was a queen's son, boys; 
And though he came our enemy, remember 
He was paid for that: though mean and mighty, rotting 
Together, have one dust, yet reverence, 
That angel of the world, doth make distinction 
Of place 'tween high and low. Our foe was princely, 
And though you took his life, as being our foe, 
Yet bury him as a prince. 

Guiderius. Pray you, fetch him hither. 

Thersites' body is as good as Ajax' 
When neither are alive. 

Arviragus. If you'll go fetch him, 

We'll say our song the whilst. — Brother, begin. 

[Exit Belarius. 

Guiderius. Nay, Cadwal, we must lay his head to th' east; 
My father hath a reason for't. 

Arviragus. 'Tis true. 

Guiderhts. Come on, then, and remove him. 

Arviragus. So — begin . 

SONG 

Guiderius. Fear no more the heat o' the sun, 
Nor the furious winter's rages; 
Thou thy worldly task hast done, 

Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages: 
Golden lads and girls all must, 
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust. 



CYMBELINE 1 29 

Arviragns. Fear no more the frown o' the great, 
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke; 
Care no more to clothe, and eat; 
To thee the reed is as the oak: 
The sceptre, learning, physic, must 
All follow this, and come to dust. 

Guiderius. Fear no more the lightning-flash, 
Arviragus. Nor th' all-dreaded thunder-stone; 
Guiderius. Fear not slander, censure rash; 
Arviragus. Thou hast finish'd joy and moan: 
Both. All lovers young, all lovers must 

Consign to thee, and come to dust. 

Guiderius. No exorciser harm thee! 
Arviragus Nor no witchcraft charm thee! 
Guiderius. Ghost unlaid forbear thee! 
Arviragus. Nothing ill come near thee! 
Both. Quiet consummation have; 

And renown-ed be thy grave! 

Re-enter Be/arms, with the body of Cloten. 

Guiderius. We have done our obsequies. Come, lay him 
down. 

Belarius Here's a few flowers; but 'bout midnight more. 
The herbs that have on them cold dew o' the night 
Are strewings fitt'st for graves. — Upon their faces. — 
You were as flowers, now wither'd; even so 
These herblets shall, which we upon you strew. — 
Come on, away; apart upon our knees, 
The ground that gave them first has them again; 
Their pleasures here are past, so is their pain. 



CHAPTER XVI 
ARVIRAGUS 

CYMBELINE left two sons, Gukjerius and 
Arviragus. The former succeeded to the 
throne. Unlike his father, he was not friendly to 
the Romans — who not only were receiving their 
tribute from his subjects, but were evidently Roman- 
izing the entire country at a rapid rate. The new 
king soon determined to strike a blow for inde- 
pendence, and refused to pay the tribute when it 
became due. 

By this time the Romans had become so im- 
pressed with the value of their British possessions 
that their emperor, Claudius — the third since Julius 
Caesar, — was moved to undertake in person the 
thorough conquest of the island. He landed with 
his forces in Britain in the year 43 a. d., as we learn 
from the Roman historians. 

The Britons, under Guiderius, advanced to meet 
him. It is related that one of the Roman officers, 
whom the Britons called Hamo, disguised himself 
in British armor, and fought against his own men, 
in order that he might work his way unperceived 
to the side of the British king, and slay him. In 

this plan the Roman was successful. Guiderius 

130 



ARVIRAGUS 131 

was taken wholly unawares; for Hamo knew the 
British tongue, and was exhorting the king's 
followers to do their utmost, when, as an 
opportunity offered, he dispatched Guiderius with 
a sudden blow, and made his escape to his own 
lines. 

Arviragus, the king's brother, was bravely fight- 
ing at that time. He chanced to see the base 
deed, and took note of the fleeing murderer. 
Although the act had made the prince a king at 
once, upon the battle-field, he took no pleasure in 
this, but thought only of revenge upon his brother's 
assassin. But first it was necessary to prevent 
the panic which must ensue if it should be known 
that the king was dead. Arviragus, accordingly, 
found means to conceal the fact, and arrayed him- 
self in his brother s armor, in which he succeeded 
in passing for the king himself until the crisis of 
the battle was past, and the Britons had won the 
day. 

Claudius retired to his ships, while Hamo fled 
through the forest. Arviragus pursued the latter 
and his followers, by day and by night. The only 
hope of the wretched fugitive was to reach the 
coast. Hastening to the southward, he came in 
sight of the sea at a harbor where some merchant 
ships were riding at anchor. The infuriated king 
was close behind Hamo, though the latter did not 
suspect how near his pursuer was. Just as Hamo 
was about to step upon one of the ships, he was 



132 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

seized and killed. The harbor is said to have 
been called Hamo's Port in reference to him. It 
is now the port of Southampton. 

Claudius advanced to besiege the new king at 
the city now called Winchester, and set up the 
mighty Roman engines * for battering down its 
walls. The situation of the Britons was desperate; 
yet Arviragus was ready to lead them to battle, 
when he received an astonishing proposal from 
the emperor. Claudius, impressed with the value 
of a peace based upon something other than mere 
force, offered to the king the hand of his daughter 
in marriage, as a guarantee of future peace, in 
case the Britons would put an end to the war. 

The British nobles no doubt felt that an honor- 
able peace with the Romans was more desirable 
than a long struggle for independence, and urged 
the young king to accept this remarkable offer. 
The agreement was made, and the emperor sent 
an escort to Rome to bring to him the fair princess, 
whose name was Genuissa. In those days it was 
not thought at all necessary to consult the wishes 
of a princess in such a matter. 

The wedding took place in the following spring, 
amid great rejoicings. The ceremony was per- 
formed at a camp where the armies were resting; 
and in honor of the event, Claudius commanded 
that a city should be built there. So the soldiers 
became civil engineers and carpenters and masons 
for the time, and a town arose as by magic where 



ARVIRAGUS I33 

the camp had been. It is thought that this place 
derives its modern name of Gloucester from the 
name of the emperor, and that it was first called, in 
the Latin "Claudii-castra" (the camp of Claudius). 

The results of the marriage were not altogether 
what had been expected. For a time Arviragus 
showed great wisdom, and Claudius returned to 
Rome, satisfied that all would be well. But the 
emperor's son-in-law soon began to assume an air 
of independence, and even to treat with contempt 
the threats of the Roman Senate. 

Vespasian, a great Roman general, afterward 
emperor, was sent with a large force, to compel 
obedience to Rome. A battle was fought which was 
not decisive; and then Genuissa, who loved both 
her husband and her father with much tenderness, 
brought about a peace between them. 

Such is the pretty story the British legend tells. 
How much of truth it contains, we cannot know. 
It is certain that Claudius, when he returned to 
Rome, announced that he had conquered the 
Britons; and that the Senate granted him a 
splendid spectacular honor known as a ''triumph," 
and gave him the title of "Britannicus." But it is 
evident that his work in Britain was very incom- 
plete, and that the "triumph" was not justified by 
anything he had accomplished. The fact that the 
emperor conducted the campaign in person caused 
writers to be very careful, no doubt, in comment- 
ing upon it. 



134 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Claudius was a singular character. Half-para- 
lyzed, ruled by women, and regarded by his 
family as an imbecile, he nevertheless led some 
notable campaigns, and wrote many books. All 
his writings are lost. If we had them, we could 
better judge of the account which the Britons gave 
of him. Not being a great soldier, he sought, doubt- 
less, to conciliate the Britons as far as possible. 

Arviragus is accounted, in the legend, one of the 
ablest of the ancient British sovereigns. The 
Roman poet Juvenal refers to him incidentally, in 
such a manner as to indicate that the Romans con- 
sidered the British king a ruler not lightly to be 
reckoned. 

The mention of Arviragus by Juvenal is found 
in the "Third Satire" of that author. Here the 
Roman practice of seeking prophecies in the 
appearances of animals is ridiculed by represent- 
ing that, on a certain occasion, something in the 
looks of a turbot indicates the overthrow of a foe 
of the Romans. The turbot is a foreign fish; 
hence it is a foreign monarch who is to be over- 
thrown — perhaps even Arviragus, in the famous 
war chariot of the Britons ! 

"I see, I see 
The omens of some glorious victory! 
Some powerful monarch captured! Lo, he rears, 
Horrent on every side, his pointed spears! 
Arviragus, hurled from the British car! 
The fish is foreign, foreign is the war." 



ARVIRAGUS 135 

Throughout the reign of Arviragus the Roman 
influence in Britain steadily increased, and the 
people grew in wealth and in culture. He was 
buried, we are told, in a temple which he had 
built in Gloucester, in honor ot the emperor. 

Spenser, in his quaint and beautiful verses, 
speaks thus of the famous British king: 

Was never king more highly magnified, 
Nor dread of Romans, than was Arvirage; 
For which the emperor to him allied 
His daughter Genuiss' in marriage; 
Yet shortly he renounced the vassalage 
Of Rome again, who hither hast'ly sent 
Vespasian, that with great spoil and rage 
Forwasted all, till Genuissa gent 
Persuaded him to cease, and her lord to relent. 

Arviragus was succeeded by his son Marius. 
The new king followed in his father s footsteps. 
In his reign the Britons suffered from an invasion 
of the Picts, who ravaged the north end of the 
island. The Britons were led against them by the 4 
king in person, and won an important battle in 
what is now Westmoreland. An enormous stone 
monument was set up on the battle-ground, to 
commemorate the event. A more enduring 
monument is found in the name of the country — 
if, indeed, it is true that "Westmoreland" is a 
corruption of "Marius-land," as has been claimed. 

Marius did not expel the men whom he had 
conquered, but permitted them to settle in what 



I36 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

is now Caithness. The soldiers of the Picts were 
generally young men, without families. Cured of 
their mad desire for conquest, they were disposed 
to settle down to quiet living and become good 
subjects. 

The king found, however, that it was useless for 
the strangers to ask the British girls to marry 
them; for the maidens of his kingdom were dis- 
posed to repel foreigners — except, perhaps, the 
Romans. He permitted the soldiers to cross ovei 
to Ireland and make proposals of marriage to the 
girls of that country. This the men did, with 
marked success, if we may credit the story; and 
shiploads of fair maidens from the Emerald Isle 
embarked with their energetic wooers for homes 
in the Scottish Highlands. 



CHAPTER XVII 
CARACTACUS 

IT IS often said that truth is stranger than fiction; 
and of the time we are now considering, the 
written history is far more impressive than the 
legend. 

Two of the most famous characters of all the 
ancient Britons are not even mentioned in the 
legendary account of the period of Arviragus and 
Claudius. Their historic names are Caractacus 
and Boadicea. The reason for the omission is 
found in the fact that they belonged to inde- 
pendent British kingdoms, and were not connected 
directly with affairs in London. There was then, 
in fact, no kingdom of Britain as a whole, whatever 
the legend may say c 

Caradoc, whom the Roman historians call 
Caractacus, was the King of the Silures. In his 
heart the spirit of liberty burned. In his mountain 
fastnesses he was long able to defy the power of 
the Romans. 

As we have seen, the Emperor Claudius, return- 
ing to Rome, made an absurd claim to the honor 
of having crushed the Britons, The work of con- 
quest was by no means accomplished. Vespasian 
continued the war in the southwest, and the Roman 

137 



138 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

general, Ostorius Scapula, advanced to the moun- 
tains of Cambria, or Wales. It is an amusing fact 
that a range of highlands in England is known to-day 
as the "Oyster Hills," from a corruption of this offi- 
cer's name; for upon these hills he pitched his camp. 

Caractacus made the most desperate resistance 
to the advance of the Roman forces. He was 
animated by the purest patriotism, and his ability 
and bravery challenged the admiration of his foes. 
The contest lasted nine years. It was a very 
unequal struggle, for Caractacus had to contend 
with the best-equipped, best-trained soldiers of the 
world; and Rome was determined to complete the 
conquest at whatever cost. 

The story of this noble Briton is told in the 
elegant pages of Tacitus, the Roman historian, and 
also in the books of Suetonius, the Latin biogra- 
pher of the 'Twelve Caesars." There is an old 
English drama by William Mason, — which has not 
been played for more than a century, but which is 
interesting to read. It portrays the last, desperate 
struggle of the Britons under Caractacus. In one 
of its scenes a high-priest of the Druids delivers to 
the king the sword of Belinus, said to have been 
hidden for ages in the hollow of one of the sacred 
oak trees. These are the words with which the 
priest presents the inspiring relic: 

"Caractacus, 
Behold this sword, the sword of old Belinus; 
Stained with the blood of giants, and its name 



CARACTACUS 

Trifingus! Many an age its charmed blade 
Has slept within yon consecrated trunk. 
Lo, I unsheath it, King! I wave it o'er thee. 
Mark what portentous streams of scarlet light 
Flow from the brandished falchion. On thy knee 
Receive the sacred pledge; and mark our words: 



139 




^- & 

Caractacus and the Sword of Belinus. — (Old Print) 

By the bright circle of the golden sun, 

By the brief courses of the errant moon, 

By the dread potency of every star 

That studs the mystic Zodiac's burning girth, — 

By each and all of these supernal signs, 

We do adjure thee, with this trusty blade, 

To guard yon sacred oak, whose holiest stem 



I4O THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Involves the spirit of high Taranis [God]. 
This be thy charge; to which in aid we join 
Ourselves and our sage brethren. With our vassals, 
Thy son and the Brigantian prince shall make 
Incursion on the foe." 

Caractacus says, on receiving the sword: 

"Old as I am, I trust with half our powers 
I could drive back these Romans to their ships; 
Dastards, that come, as doth the cunning fowler, 
To tangle me with snares, and take me tamely! 
Slaves! they shall find that, ere they gain their prey, 
They have to hunt it boldly, with barbed spears, 
And meet such conflict as the chaf-ed boar 
Gives to his stout assailants. O ye Gods, 
That I might instant face them!" 

All was in vain. Despite their valor, the Silures 
were overpowered; and the king, escaping through 
the mountains, fled to the Brigantes, another 
British tribe, whose prince the high-priest 
mentioned in his address. Here he might expect 
to find followers, to renew the fight. But the 
Romans fought not only with swords, but also with 
gold. Cartismandua, Queen ot the Brigantes, 
received him only to betray him to his foes; and 
Caractacus fell into the hands of Ostorius, who 
carried the fallen chief to Rome, to grace his 
triumph. 

In the magnificent triumphal procession which 
swept through the great city, the British captive 
was led in clanking chains. As he passed through 



CARACTACUS I4I 

the streets and saw the grand structures on either 
side, he exclaimed: "Is it possible that a people 
possessing such magnificence at home should envy 
me my humble dwelling in Britain?" 

Tacitus, in the Twelfth Book of his "Annals," 
says of this spectacle, that the senators pronounced 
it no less glorious than that when Scipio exhibited 
Syphax, or when Paulus paraded the Macedonian 
Perseus in the streets of Rome. The bravery of 
the great Briton, and the dignity with which he 
bore his misfortunes, touched the heart of the 
emperor, who set him free. Tradition says that 
he died at Rome three years later, in the year 

55. 

Thus British independence, which originated 

through Greek despotism, according to the legend, 
was coming to its end through the Roman love of 
conquest, according to veritable history. The 
later decline and fall of the Roman Empire, which 
was overthrown at last by the Northern bar- 
barians, is characterized by poets as a just retribu- 
tion for the crimes of its rulers. William Cullen 
Bryant speaks thus of Greece and Rome, in his 
poem entitled "The Ages": 

O Greece, thy flourishing cities were a spoil 
Unto each other; thy hard hand oppressed 
And crushed the helpless; thou didst make thy soil 
Drunk with the blood of those that loved thee best; 
And thou didst drive from thy unnatural breast 
Thy just and brave, to die in distant climes; 



142 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Earth shuddered at thy deeds, and sighed for rest 
From thine abominations; after times 
That yet shall read thy tale, will tremble at thy crimes. 

And Rome, thy sterner, younger sister, she 

Who awed the world with her imperial frown — 

Rome drew the spirit of her race from thee — 

The rival of thy shame and thy renown; 

Yet her degenerate children sold the crown 

Of earth's wide kingdom to a line of slaves; 

Guilt reigned, and woe with guilt, and plagues came 

down, 
Till the North broke its flood gates, and the waves 
Whelmed the degraded race, and weltered o'er their 

graves. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
BOADICEA 

AFTER Ostorius retired from Britain, Didius 
Gallus represented the Roman authority in 
the island for a short time. He was succeeded by 
Veranus, who died after a years service. Then 
came Suetonius Paulinus, whose name is linked 
forever with the tragic death of Queen Boadicea. 

Suetonius resolved first to overthrow the power 
of the Druid priests, since he regarded them as a 
perpetual menace to the Romans — as, indeed, they 
were. In the year 6r he crossed the strait into the 
island of Anglesea, called by the Britons Mona. 
This was perhaps their most holy place. It 
required all the courage the Roman soldiers 
possessed to face the scene that confronted them. 

In the sacred groves were gathered the fierce 
British warriors, in war paint; and the priests and 
priestesses, with frantic screams and imprecations, 
incited them to the most desperate resistance. But 
even the sacred altars offered no security to the 
Druids. The stronger physical force prevailed. The 
priests and priestesses were ruthlessly slain, the 
groves cut down, the altars overthrown. 

While the Roman general was thus engaged, the 
Queen of the Iceni seized the opportunity to 

143 



144 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



organize a formidable revolt. Her British name 
was Bunduca. She was the widow of Prasutagus. 
As determined as Caractacus, she was able in com- 
mand and strong in resources. Had the Romans 

translated her 
name, instead of 
distorting it in 
their absurd fash- 
ion, they would 
have called her 
Victoria — a name 
dear to our modern 
world. 

When she pro- 
tested to the Ro- 
man general 
against the seizure 
of her wealth by 
his officials, she 
met with scorn and 
insult, and was 
even whipped with 
switches. Unspeak- 
able outrages were 
perpetrated upon 
her daughters; and the maddened queen went 
from tribe to tribe among the Britons, appealing 
to their chivalry and to their patriotism. 

In a rush like a whirlwind she led her followers 
against the Roman camps and towns, and seventy 




Lord Tennyson 



BOADICEA 145 

thousand men are said to have fallen before her 
arms. Then Suetonius hastened from Mona to 
retrieve the disaster. 

The revolt of the heroic queen was the destruc- 
tion of her nation. The final battle occurred near 
London. Eighty thousand Britong, as history tells 
us, fell on that awful field — a climax of horror beside 
which the battles in our less destructive modern 
warfare seem almost trivial. A terrific picture was 
presented by this maddened queen, as she rode 
about the field, her yellow hair streaming in the 
wind, and her voice calling aloud for vengeance on 
her foes. 

Unable to survive the extinction of her people, 
Boadicea drank poison, and joined the number cf 
the great dead. 

Tennyson's unconventional poem which bears 
her name is so striking in its portraiture, that it is 
inserted here entire. 

Tennyson's " Boadicea" 

While about the shore of Mona those Neronian legionaries 
Burnt and broke the grove and altar of the Druid and 

Druidess, 
Far in the East Boadicea, standing loftily charioted, 
Mad and maddening all that heard her in her fierce 

volubility, 
Girt by half the tribes of Britain, near the colony Camulo- 

dune, 
YelTd and shriek'd between her daughters o'er a wild 

confederacy. 



I46 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

"They that scorn the tribes and call us Britain's barbar- 
ous populaces, 

Did they hear me, would they listen, did they pity me 
supplicating? 

Shall I heed them in their anguish? shall I brook to be 
supplicated? 

Hear Icenian, Catieuchlanian, hear Coritanian, Trinobant! 

Must their ever-ravening eagle's beak and talon annihi- 
late us? 

Tear the noble heart of Britain, leave it gorily quiver- 
ing? 

Bark an answer, Britain's raven! bark and blacken 
innumerable, 

Blacken round the Roman carrion, make the carcass a 
skeleton; 

Kite and kestrel, wolf and wolf kin, from the wilderness, 
wallow in it, 

Till the face of Bel be brighten'd, Taranis be propitiated. 

Lo their colony half-defended! lo their colony, Camulo- 
dune! 

There the horde of Roman robbers mock at a barbarous 
adversary. 

There the hive of Roman liars worship a gluttonous 
emperor-idiot. 

Such is Rome, and this her deity; hear it, Spirit of Cassi- 
velaun! 

"Hear it, gods! the gods have heard it, O Icenian, O 
Coritanian! 
Doubt not ye the gods have answer'd, Catieuchlanian, 

Trinobant. 
These have told us all their anger in miraculous utterances, 
Thunder, a flying fire in heaven, a murmur heard aerially, 



BOADICEA 147 

Phantom sound of blows descending, moan of an enemy 

massacred, 
Phantom wail of women and children, multitudinous 

agonies. 
Bloodily flow'd the Tamesa rolling phantom bodies of 

horses and men; 
Then a phantom colony smoulder'd on the refluent estuary; 
Lastly yonder yester-even, suddenly giddily tottering — 
There was one who watch'd and told me — down their 

statue of Victory fell. 
Lo their precious Roman bantling, lo the colony Camu- 

lodune, 
Shall we teach it a Roman lesson? shall we care to be 

pitiful? 
Shall we deal with it as an infant? shall we dandle it 

amorously? 

"Hear Icenian, Catieuchlanian, hear Coritanian, Trino- 
bant! 

While I roved about the forest, long and bitterly medi- 
tating, 

There I heard them in the darkness, at the mystical cere- 
mony, 

Loosely robed in flying raiment, sang the terrible prophet- 
esses, 

'Fear not, isle of blowing woodland, isle of silvery para- 
pets! 

Tho' the Roman eagle shadow thee, tho' the gathering 
enemy narrow thee, 

Thou shalt wax and he shall dwindle, thou shalt be the 
mighty one yet! 

Thine the liberty, thine the glory, thine the deeds to be 
celebrated, 



I48 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Thine the myriad-rolling ocean, light and shadow illimit 
able, 

Thine the lands of lasting summer, many-blossoming 
Paradises, 

Thine the North and thine the South and thine the battle- 
thunder of God.' 

So they chanted: how shall Britain light upon auguries 
happier? 

So they chanted in the darkness, and there cometh a vic- 
tory now. 

"Hear Icenian, Catieuchlanian, hear Coritanian, Trino- 
bant! 

Me the wife of rich Prasutagus, me the lover of liberty, 

Me they seized and me they tortured, me they lash'd and 
humiliated, 

Me the sport of ribald Veterans, mine of ruffian violators! 

See they sit, they hide their faces, miserable in igno- 
miny! 

Wherefore in me burns an anger, not by blood to be 
satiated. 

Lo the palaces and the temple, lo the colony Camulo- 
diine! * 

There they ruled, and thence they wasted all the flourish- 
ing territory, 

Thither at their will they haled the yellow-ringleted 
Britoness — 

Bloodily, bloodily fall the battle-axe, unexhausted, inex- 
orable. 

Shout Icenian, Catieuchlanian, shout Coritanian, Trin- 
obant, 

Till the victim hear within, and yearn to hurry precip- 
itously 



BOADICEA I4Q 

Like the leaf in a roaring whirlwind, like the smoke in a 

hurricane whirl'd. 
Lo the colony, there they rioted in the city of Cunobeline! 
There they drank in cups of emerald, there at tables of 

ebon\- lay, 
Rolling on their purple couches in their tender effeminacy. 
There they dwelt and there they rioted; there — there 

— they dwell no more. 
Burst the gates, and burn the palaces, break the works 

of the statuary, 
Take the hoary Roman head and shatter it, hold it 

abominable, 
Cut the Roman boy to pieces in his lust and voluptuous- 
ness, 
Lash the maiden into swooning, me they lash'd and 

humiliated, 
Chop the breasts from off the mother, dash the brains of 

the little one out, 
Up my Britons, on my chariot, on my chargers, trample 

them under us." 

So the Queen Boadicea, standing loftily charioted, 
Brandishing in her hand a dart and rolling glances 

lioness like, 
Yell'd and shriek'd between her daughters in her fierce 

volubility, 
Till her people all around the royal chariot agitated, 
Madly dash'd the darts together, writhing barbarous 

lineaments, 
Made the noise of frosty woodlands, when the}' shiver in 

January, 
Roar'd as when the roaring breakers boom and blanch on 

the precipices, 



I50 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Yell'd as when the winds of winter tear an oak on a 

promontory. 
So the silent colony, hearing her tumultuous adversaries 
Clash the darts and on the buckler beat with rapid 

unanimous hand, 
Thought on all her evil tyrannies, all her pitiless avarice, 
Till she felt the heart within her fall and flutter 

tremulously, 
Then her pulses at the clamoring of her enemy fainted 

away. 
Out of evil evil flourishes, out of tyranny tyranny buds. 
Ran the land with Roman slaughter, multitudinous 

agonies. 
Perish'd many a maid and matron, many a valorous 

legionary, 
Fell the colony, city and citadel, London, Verulam, 

Camulodune. 

In the last nine lines the words she and her, 
wherever used, refer to the Roman colony, and not 
to the queen. 

A singular story is related of this poem, which 
shows how accident sometimes favors genius. The 
composition was written in competition with those 
of other students, while the poet was in college. 
So exceptional was it in versification and in style, 
that its author characterized it as "an experiment." 
The merits of all the competing compositions were 
passed upon by three professors. 

The first of these judges marked Tennyson's 
poem all over with interrogation points, intending 
his verdict to be far from complimentary. The 



BOADICEA 



151 



second, relying on the excellent judgment of the 
first, and mistaking the marks for indications of 
the highest approval, ratified them as such. The 
third, finding his two colleagues in singular accord, 
as he supposed, on 
every point, did 
not offer a dissent- 
ing opinion. And 
thus the "experi- 
ment" became a 
pronounced suc- 
cess, Far greater 
liberty is exercised 
now than formerly 
in the forms of 
poetry, and many 
another doubtful 
experiment in 
verse has met with 
approval. 

William Cowper, 
who was the lead- 
ing poet of Great 
Britain more than 
a century ago, 

wrote a stirring ode, in which he gave the prophecy 
of a Druid bard directed against the cruel Romans. 
He assumed that the royal house of modern Britain 
is descended from the ancient British kings (which 
is not at all unlikely), and made the bard predict 




William Cowper 



15-2 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

the rise oi a far greater empire than the Roman, 
with its seat in Britain — a prediction which has 
long been fully realized. This ode is likewise 
inserted here, because of its beautiful thought and 
diction. 

Cowper's "Boadicea" 

When the British warrior queen. 

Bleeding from the Roman rods, 
Sought, with an indignant mien, 

Counsel of her country's gods, 

Sage beneath the spreading oak, 

Sat the Druid, hoary chief; 
Every burning word he spoke 

Full of rage, and full of grief: 

"Princess, if our aged eyes 

Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 

'Tis because resentment ties 
All the terrors of our tongues. 

"Rome shall perish — write that word 

In the blood that she has spilt; 
Perish, hopeless and abhorr'd, 

Deep in ruin as in guilt. 

"Rome, for empire far renown'd, 

Tramples on a thousand states; 
Soon her pride shall kiss the ground; 

Hark, the Gaul is at her gates! 

"Other Romans shall arise, 

Heedless of a soldier's name; 
Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize; 

Harmon}- the path to fame. 



BOADICEA I53 

''Then the Progeny that springs 

From the forests of our land, 
Arm'd with thunder, clad with wings, 

Shall a wider world command. 

"Regions Caesar never knew 

Thy posterity shall sway; 
Where his eagles never flew, 

None invincible as they." 

Such the bard's prophetic words, 

Pregnant with celestial fire, 
Bending as he swept the chords 

Of his sweet but awful lyre. 

She, with all a monarch's pride, 

Felt them in her bosom glow; 
Rush'd to battle, fought, and died; 

Dying, hurl'd them at the foe: 

"Ruffians, pitiless as proud, 

Heaven awards the vengeance due; 

Empire is on us bestow'd, 

Shame and ruin wait for you." 

It is interesting to read this imaginary prophecy 
in the light of the history of to-day. Regions 
Caesar never knew, in South Africa, in Asia, in 
America, and in the isles of the ocean, are com- 
manded by the progeny which sprang from the 
forests of Britain — a progeny armed with the 
thunder of cannon, and clad with wings of steam 
and electricity. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE LADY CLAUDIA 

^HE Lady Claudia was the first British Chris- 

1 tian, if we are to accept the story which the 
Welsh tell of her; and the story is strongly con- 
firmed, in part, by the testimony of history and of 
literature. 

Claudia was a native of Britain, a famous beauty 
and social leader at the great world-capital, Rome, 
a personal friend of Saint Paul. The Christian 
world may never know how much its early growth 
in the West was due to the influence which she 
exerted. 

The story of Saint Paul, as related in the Bible, 
stops short with the last verses of the "Acts of the 
Apostles." He had come to Rome from the 
remote East, to make an appeal in his own behalf 
to the emperor. The arrival of such a prisoner, 
after his famous shipwreck on the island of Malta, 
must have caused something of a sensation in the 
imperial city. For two years, at least, he was 
allowed a great degree of freedom, while waiting 
for his appeal to be heard. 

He spent his time in active missionary work. 
The Bible narrative, in taking leave of him, says: 

And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired 

i54 



THE LADY CLAUDIA 155 

house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching 
the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which 
concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man 
forbidding him. 

Later information concerning the illustrious pris- 
oner may be gleaned from the "Epistles" which he 
wrote from Rome to various churches and individ- 
uals. 

It would seem that all classes of people "came in 
unto him." There was the runaway slave, Onesi- 
mus, whom Paul sent back to his master with a 
letter, known as the "Epistle of Paul to Philemon." 
Then there was Pudens, a high officer of the impe- 
rial household. Probably the latter became inter- 
ested in Paul for political reasons, at first; for the 
apostle could give the Government information of 
great value concerning the troublesome provinces 
of the East. 

The Lady Claudia was the daughter of a British 
prince named Cogidubnus, who became much 
attached to Claudius when the latter was in Britain. 
This prince added the name Claudius to his own, 
and gave the same name, in its feminine form, to 
his daughter. 

Pudens may have seen some service in Britain, 
and possibly he became acquainted with Claudia 
at her father's castle. Pudens and Claudia were 
married at Rome, and we may judge that the wed- 
ding was a brilliant social event, from the attention 
it received at the hands of the Latin poet Martial. 



i^6 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




o 
K 

< 

> 

< 

< 



z 

z 



THE LADY CLAUDIA If; 

This witty writer of epigrams was called upon to 
celebrate in elegant verse the doings of Roman 
notables. In Book Eleven of his "Epigrams" that 
have come down to us, we find that the Fifty- 
fourth is in honor of the bride. It begins as fol- 
lows: 

Our Claudia see, true Roman, though she springs 
From a long line of painted British kings; 
Italia* s self might claim so fair a face, 
And Athens envy her her matchless grace. 

Another "Epigram" by the same author (the 
Thirteenth) is contained in Book Four, and relates 
to the wedding. It runs thus: 

Claudia, late from abroad, O Rufus, has wedded my 

Pudens. 
Let us cry, "Hail, all hail, to thy nuptial torches, O 

Hymen!" 
Happily are the nard and the delicate cinnamon mingled; 
Happily are the Thesean wines with the Massican honey; 
Nor mere happily are the elms with the grape-vines 

entangled. 
Like as the lotus loves the waters, the myrtle the borders, 
So may immaculate Concord dwell in happy duration! 
Ever may Venus thus be kind in her choice at a wedding! 
Time will, indeed, bring age to the hero; but as to the 

lady, 
Never to him will she seem to have aged, though an 

elderly matron. 

In still another "Epigram" (the First in Book 
Thirty-three) the same poet playfully refers to the 



158 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

hair of Encolpus, a son of Pudens, who is likely 
to have been the child of Claudia also, and who 
may have inherited from her the famous brown 
tresses of British royalty. 

Pudens and Claudia, becoming acquainted with 
Saint Paul, were converted to his faith, and became 
prominent members of the early Christian Church 
at Rome. Paul, writing to Timothy — who had 
met with them at Rome, but had gone back to the 
East — tells him that these friends desire to be 
remembered. It is at the close of the "Second 
Epistle to Timothy." Here he says: 

Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and 
Claudia, and all the brethren. 

The traditional story of Claudia is that she vis- 
ited her old home in Britain, and won her father 
to the new faith; that the latter wrote to Saint 
Paul, inviting him to visit Britain; and that the 
great Apostle to the Gentiles wrote an answer to 
the invitation, and, later, paid a visit to the British 
prince. This is by no means improbable, though 
it is not verified by written history. 

It is certain that Britain became Christianized in 
part at a very early day. Later, when the country 
was overrun by the heathen Saxons, and the Chris- 
tian Britons were driven into Wales, it was neces- 
sary to convert the country anew, though some 
churches still remained to tell of the early Chris- 
tians, 



THE LADY CLAUDIA 1 59 

The father of Claudia was not king of the whole 
island. In fact, the land of Britain was ruled by a 
number of chieftains, in different parts, in the time 
of the Roman dominion; and it is probable that 
such had been the case in all preceding time, except- 
ing when, for limited periods, some rulers of supe- 
rior force may have extended their sway over 
neighboring tribes. 



CHAPTER XX 

LUCIUS 

THROUGHOUT the reign of Marius, the king 
and his court appreciated the benefit of the 
Roman influence in Britain; for at this time the 
city of Rome was not only the capital of the civil- 
ized world, but also the chief center of wealth and 
culture. 

Marius sent his son Coel — or Coillus, as the 
Romans called him — in infancy to be reared in the 
great city, and to receive the training which the 
best Roman teachers offered. Through all this 
reign the Roman tribute was willingly paid, and 
Britain remained at peace, in the enjoyment of a 
high degree of prosperity. 

Coillus succeeded Marius, and his reign was like 
his father's. He left a son, Lucius, who is remem- 
bered in legend as the first Christian King of the 
Britons. It is related that the Bishop of Rome 
sent, at his request, two religious and learned men 
named Faganus -and Duvanus, who baptized the 
royal household, and preached to the court and 
the people. This Bishop of Rome, or Pope, was 
Saint Eleutherius, who was the thirteenth in his 
line. 

It must be remembered, however, that the whole 

1 60 



LUCIUS 161 

story of Lucius is legendary, rather than historical; 
for at this period Britain received little or no atten- 
tion from the Roman writers. According to the 
story, the conversion of the country was effected 
very easily and very quickly. The Druid temples, 
which had stood for ages, were dedicated anew to 
the one Supreme God, with Christian ceremonies, 
and the forms of Christian worship were instituted 
in them in all parts of Britain. 

It is said that at the time of the conversion of 
Lucius there were in the kingdom twenty-eight 
flamens and three arch-flamens. If this were true, 
it would indicate that the old religion of the Druids 
had been completely replaced by the idolatry of the 
Romans, which is very improbable. The flamens 
were priests of particular divinities, who performed 
the rites in honor of their respective gods and god- 
desses. 

The religion of the Druids recognized one 
Supreme God, though it tolerated also certain 
minor divinities, as will be remembered. Its worst 
feature was its human sacrifices. It yielded but 
slowly to Roman influence, though it gave way 
before the teachings of the Christians. 

According to the legend, the flamens had been 
the leading priests of the country, with their arch- 
flamens to govern and direct them; and these 
priests became converted to the Christian religion 
in a body, being made bishops of the new faith, 
while the arch-flamens were made archbishops. 



1 62 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Thus the system of a state church remained undis- 
turbed by the change of the national religion. 
The seats of the three archbishops were London, 
York, and the City of Legions. 

This story of the conversion of Britain, effected 
so suddenly and so quietly through the king, is 
doubtless far from true. It was long received, 
however, and in later centuries it led to serious 
disputes among the bishops of London, Canter- 
bury, and York, who made it the basis of claims to 
special honor and power for themselves. 

That there was such a ruler as Lucius is very 
probable. There is a mention of him in Bede's 
" Ecclesiastical History," which is one of the earliest 
histories of the Church of England, though written 
many centuries later. The Christian religion was 
only tolerated at this time in the Empire, which 
was generally idolatrous; and the Bishop, or Pope, 
of Rome possessed little influence except that of a 
spiritual nature. In fact, the Popes of this period 
generally lost their lives by martyrdom. 

It is evident, however, that Britain was Christian- 
ized in a measure at a very early day, being 
one of the first countries of the West to receive 
the new faith. More than four centuries later, 
when the Britons were driven into Wales, and the 
heathen Saxons occupied their lands in what is 
now England, the work of Christianizing the 
country had to be done over again, as has been 
stated in the preceding chapter; yet even then 



LUCIUS 163 

there remained some churches which had contin- 
ued through the turmoil of invasion and conquest, 
to tell of the Christian days of old, when the land 
was ruled by pious British kings. 

Lucius passed away, it is said, in the year 156. 
He left no son to succeed him, and a period of 
confusion followed, in which many local chieftains 
contended for the supreme power. Some of these 
were friendly to the Romans, and some bitterly 
opposed to a continuation of the imperial power 
in their country. 

Before leaving the subject of the early Chris- 
tians in Britain, it may be well to speak here of a 
romantic story which arose in later centuries in 
reference to them. This story, which undoubtedly 
is pure fiction, relates that Joseph of Arimathaea — 
the rich man of the Bible narrative who gave up 
his beautiful tomb to receive in honor the body of 
Jesus, after His crucifixion — came to Britain soon 
after the resurrection of the Lord, and built a 
church at Glastonbury. 

Joseph is said to have possessed a relic of singu- 
lar interest and value, called the Holy Grail. 
This was an emerald cup, from which the Saviour 
drank at the Last Supper. Some of the romances 
declared, also, that Joseph had carried it to the 
scene of the crucifixion, and had held it to receive the 
blood from the Saviour s wounds as He hung upon 
the cross. Others asserted that the Holy Grail was 
a dish that held the paschal lamb at the Last Supper. 



164 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



A miraculous property of the Holy Grail was its 
disappearance from human sight when anyone 
came near it with impure thoughts. In the 
romances, the Holy Grail is said to have been long 
treasured at Glastonbury, until it disappeared, 

owing to the want 
of virtue of the 
Christians in 
whose care it was 
left. The story of 
the Holy Grail will 
be referred to 
again, in connec- 
tion with the Brit- 
ish ruler with 
whose name it is 
most associated in 
the romances of 
the Middle Ages. 
For all the loy- 
alty of M a r i u s, 
Coillus, and Lucius 
to the Empire, it is 
clear that in the 
time of these kings 
Britain was a subject of much anxiety to the 
emperors. The trouble lay in the north; for while 
the southern chiefs or kings and their people— in 
constant communication with the great capital city 
— had come to prize their connection with it, the 




Hadrian 



LUCIUS - 165 

northern tribes had lost none of their old spirit of 
hostility to Rome. They regarded the people of 
the south with almost the same feeling, deeming 
them little different from the Romans themselves. 

In the years 83 and 84 the Roman general Agric- 
ola, father-in-law of Tacitus, the historian, sub- 
dued Caledonia (Scotland). By his enlightened 
policy he greatly advanced the civilization of the 
whole country, and popularized the Roman cus- 
toms; he fostered education, and aided in every 
good cause. 

In the reign of the emperor Hadrian, Britain 
became an imperial residence. Hadrian made a 
tour of his vast empire, spending many years in its 
large provincial cities. In 119 he went to York. 
Here, as elsewhere, he effected many improve- 
ments, enlarging, fortifying, and beautifying the 
city. To protect it and the province from northern 
raids, he built a long wall of earth and wood, from 
the Eden River to the Tyne. Peace and prosper- 
ity followed in his path, and the Britons had reason 
long to remember the great days of his reign. 

The vast structure erected at Rome by Hadrian 
to be his tomb, and known as the "Mole," is now 
the famous Castle of St. Angelo. Lord Byron, the 
English poet, speaks thus slightingly of this won- 
derful tomb, in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" 
(Canto the Fourth, Stanza clii): 

Turn to the Mole, which Hadrian raised on high, 
Imperial mimic of old Egypt's piles, 



1 66 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Colossal copyist of deformity, 
Whose traveled phantasy, from the far Xile s 
Enormous model, doomed the artist's toils 
To build for giants, and for his vain earth, 
His shrunken ashes, raise this dome. How smiles 
The gazer's eye with philosophic mirth, 
To view the huge design which sprang from such a birth 



CHAPTER XXI 

SEVERUS IN BRITAIN 

AGAIN was Britain deemed worth the personal 
efforts of a Roman emperor for its reduction. 
Septimius Severus, one of the ablest of the impe- 
rial line, came to the island in the year 208, bring- 
ing with him his two sons, Geta and Caracalla, and 
leading an immense army. 

Pressing to the North, where the inhabitants 
were very hostile, he lost fifty thousand men, 
according to the Roman historians. Nevertheless, 
he was highly successful in conquering the rebel- 
lious subjects, and in restoring order. 

One of the most marvelous of the great public 
works for which the Empire was distinguished was 
the famous wall which Severus built across the 
island, as a barrier against the raids of the fierce 
warriors of the north. This wall extended from 
the mouth of the river Tyne to the Solway Frith. 
Its length was about sixty-eight miles. The wall 
was built of solid masonry, twelve feet high and 
eight feet thick. A ditch ran along the north side 
of it, and there were frequent towers along its 
entire length. 

While Severus was at York, his son Caracalla 

(who is known in the British legend as Bassianus) 

167 



1 68 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




SEVERUS IN BRITAIN 



l6g 



made an attempt to murder him; but the attempt 
failed, and the kind-hearted father pardoned the 
unnatural son. A famous painting represents the 
base culprit face to face with the emperor, who lies 
weak from illness and care upon his bed, and who 
is reproaching the 
young man for his 
awful crime. The 
cmpcro r's last 
years were embit- 
tered by the rival- 
ries of his sons. He 
passed away at 
York; and the 
army, dreading a 
civil war between 
the two brothers, 
proclaimed them 
joint emperors. 

The Roman his- 
torian Herodian 
has given an ac- 
count of the splen- 
did work of Severus in his long and arduous cam- 
paign. For about two years after the emperor's 
death, his two sons remained in Britain. On their 
return to Rome, Geta was murdered by his brother 
Caracalla, who now reigned as emperor without a 
rival. 

Carausius, a man of low birth, seized the gov- 



•••V>'^k : >^ ;, ^.i.: :i .- . --- 






5 


\ i*'- ■■I 


WT~ 




1 



Caracalla 



I70 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

ernment at London. He professed great friend- 
ship for the Roman Senate and people, and was 
intrusted with the command of a large fleet, for 
the protection of the coasts. He is said to have 
sailed entirely around the island. He was, how- 
ever, a traitor to the Roman cause. The legend 
charges him with Caracalla's death, though this 
is an error. Carausius threw off the Roman yoke, 
and reigned for a time as an independent king. 
He was slain by Allectus, his chief officer, who suc- 
ceeded to the throne, but who failed to maintain 
himself in his ill-gotten power. 

The Britons rallied around a Cornish chief 
named Asclepiodotus, and marched upon the 
capital. Allectus fled, but was pursued and killed. 
A siege of London followed, and the walls were 
beaten down by powerful engines. When the city 
fell, the Roman allies of Allectus were beheaded 
by the conqueror. 

Here the legend varies from the truth of history. 
It was really the Romans who overthrew Carausius, 
after a severe struggle. Asclepiodotus, who is said 
to have been triumphantly crowned king at Lon- 
don, is scarcely mentioned in the histories of the 
period. He was recognized as a British officer 
under the Roman general Constantius Chlorus. 

When Asclepiodotus was king, as we are told, a 
great persecution of Christians was ordered by the 
emperor Diocletian. It extended to all parts of 
the Empire, and vast numbers of martyrs suffered 



SEVERUS IN BRITAIN 171 

cruel deaths in consequence of the emperor's 
endeavor to crush out the new religion. Many of 
the churches in Britain were destroyed, and numer- 
ous Christians sealed with their blood their testi- 
mony for Christ. 

The first of these martyrs, or at least the most 
conspicuous, was Alban, who is remembered with 
affection and admiration for his holy life and 
glorious death. Alban was a native of the Roman 
town of Yerulamium, in Britain. When a young 
man he went to Rome, with a dear friend whose 
name was Amphib?lus, and for seven years he 
served in the Roman army. The friendship of 
these men was of a lofty type. Both became 
Christians. Amphibalus is believed to have taken 
the vows of a monk, and to have lived at Caerleon. 
The monk became a mark for persecution. It is 
said that Alban, finding that his friend Amphibalus 
was sought for by the persecutors, hid him in his 
house, and offered to die in his stead, Two other 
noted men, Julius and Aaron, were torn limb from 
limb. As for Alban, who had exchanged clothes 
with Amphibalus, he was not recognized by the 
soldiers, and thus his friend was saved. 

Legend tells us that, as the Roman officers were 
leading Alban to execution, a multitude followed, 
and a notable miracle was performed. When they 
came to the river Thames, a dry path was opened 
for them through the river bed, and the waters 
stood up dike solid walls on either side. Through 



172 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




SEVERUS IN BRITAIN 1 73 

this Alban and his captors passed, followed by a 
thousand people, who were filled with wonder. 

The executioner who was to kill Alban was so 
overcome by the sight that he refused to perform 
the deed, choosing rather to be himself a martyr. 
He was at once slain by the other officers. 

This story is told in an ancient book by Gildas 
the Wise, of whom little or nothing is positively 
known. No one doubts that Saint Alban died for 
his faith, though there is some doubt as to the time 
of his martyrdom. Some say it was in the year 286, 
and others that it was in 303. The persecution of 
Diocletian continued with great fury for several 
years in Britain, after which there was a period of 
rest, and many of the churches were restored. 

Four or five centuries after the death of the first 
British martyr, a large monastery was built at a 
place near Verulamium, and named in his honor. 
The town of St. Albans grew up about it, and there 
to-day you may see the very ancient building 
known as St. Alban's Abbey. 



CHAPTER XXII 
"OLD KING COLE" 

I A HE name of the king who followed Asclepi- 
pdotus is better known to the children of 
the English-speaking world to-day than is that of 
almost any other ruler who ever lived. Everyone 
is familiar with the ditty which runs, — 

Old King Cole 

Was a merry old soul, 

And a merry old soul was he. 

I Ie called for his pipe 

And he called for his howl, 

And he called lor his fiddlers three. 

How old this ditty is, nobody knows; but proba- 
bly its antiquity is great, and possibly it may reflect 
something of fact in relation to the real king. 

Coel, or Coyl, may have been a "merry old soul" 
in his hours of relaxation, but he was a stern 
warrior, an energetic organizer, a forceful man, 
through all his career. 

Having a genius for government, he made up his 
mind to seize the royal power, and place the affairs 
of the kingdom upon a better basis. 

He overthrew Asclepiodotus in a terrible battle, 

174 



OLD KING COLE 1 75 

and was at once recognized as king. He saw that 
nothing was to be gained by a continued war with 
the Romans; and when the Roman Senate sent to 
Britain the victorious general Constantius, who 
had conquered Spain, Coel determined to arrange 
a satisfactory peace with him. He proposed to 
pay to the Roman state the usual tribute, on condi- 
tion that he should retain in his own hands the 
government of his kingdom. In this he was 
entirely successful. Constantius remained in 
Britain, retaining a general oversight of the 
Roman interests in that country. 

Coel is best remembered as the builder of the 
city of Colchester, which in Roman days was a 
place of great importance. The city bears the 
name of its founder, to which is added a corruption 
of the Latin word castra, meaning camp. This 
termination, sometimes varied in form, is found in 
the names of a number of cities in Great Britain, 
to-day; as Winchester, Lancaster, Worcester, etc. 
Of these, Gloucester has been previously men- 
tioned. 

There can be no doubt of the magnificence of the 
old city of Colchester in the time of Roman 
supremacy. Archeological investigations have 
brought to light the remains of luxurious buildings, 
with beautiful mosaic floors, and richly ornamented 
walls. In the excavations that have been made, old 
coins have been discovered in abundance, together 
with jeweled ornaments for personal adornment. 



176 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The foundation walls of the ancient buildings indi- 
cate that the structures were large and massive. 

Coel had no son to succeed him n His only child 
was his daughter Helena, who is represented to 
have been as beautiful as the Helen of Trojan 
story. Helena was carefully educated, and is said 
to haveexcelled in music. Probably the king him- 
self was a lover of this art. The '"pipe" for which 
he called in the nursery song was assuredly not a 
tobacco pipe, for he lived long, very long, before 
the men of Europe had learned to smoke. It must 
have been some form of musical instrument. His 
''bowl/' by the way, may have been a cup of wine, 
or a beveled ball used in a very ancient game from 
which we have derived our modern bowling. 

King Coel died very suddenly, after an illness of 
only eight days. Constantius was married almost 
immediately to the beautiful Helena, as had been 
^ arranged before the death of her father. Con- 
stantius continued to reside in Britain for eleven 
years, administering the affairs of the realm. At 
the end of that time he died at York. 

Constaritius and Helena had a son who was des- 
tined to fill the world with his fame. This was 
Constantine, who later became emperor of Rome. 
He built the proud city of Constantinople, and 
made of it a great capital of the eastern half of the 
Roman Empire. He it was who, of all the 
emperors, first became a convert to the Christian 
faith, and he made it the religion of the Empire. 



OLD KING COLE 



177 




I78 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The conversion of Constantine to the Christian 
faith marked an era in the history of the world. 
Thenceforth, the imperial government, which had 
so often persecuted the Christians, was generally 
a defender of their faith, and the Church acquired 
vast power throughout the Roman world. 

The emperor's conversion was believed to be the 
result of a miracle. In the year 312, when he was 
in the midst of an arduous campaign in the Far 
East, surrounded by dangers, and much perplexed 
in mind, he was sitting, one day, in the door of his 
tent, at midday, and beheld a strange sign in the 
heavens. It was a flaming cross. Accompanying 
it, in letters of living light, was written a sentence 
which is expressed in Latin by the words, "In Hoc 
Signo Vinces" (By this standard thou shalt con- 
quer). Obedient unto the heavenly vision, he had 
the cross carried as an ensign at the head of his 
army; and his success in the war was attributed to 
the favor of heaven. This story of the great 
emperor was current at the time, and is one of the 
most celebrated of the ancient accounts of 
miraculous visions. Constantine was not baptized 
until the close of his life. The administration of 
the solemn ordinance to the first Christian emperor 
was an act of deep significance to Christians, 
everywhere. 

Helena is famous in the history of the church, 
and was declared to be a saint, as well as an 
empress. She determined to visit the Holy Land, 



OLD KING COLE 



179 




The Vision of Helena. — De Veronese 



l8o THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

and to investigate for herself the evidences of the 
truth of Scripture. In an excavation which she 
conducted on the traditional site of the crucifixion 
of the Saviour, at Jerusalem, she is said to have 
discovered the true cross upon which He suffered 
death. This she brought with her on her return 
to Europe. 

She brought, also, the skulls of three men said 
to have been the magi, or "wise men of the East/' 
who visited the infant Saviour at Bethlehem, as 
related in Scripture. These are the three men 
described at length in the opening chapters of Lew 
Wallace's famous novel, "Ben Hur." The skulls 
have been carefully preserved to this day, and now 
repose in the great cathedral of Cologne, in Ger- 
many. A celebrated picture of the empress repre- 
sents her as having a vision of the cross borne by 
cherubs. You will read of Constantine, and per- 
haps also of Helena, in the history of Rome. 

No one doubts that Constantius died in Britain, 
or that Constantine lived there. Yet modern 
critics generally claim that Helena was not really 
the daughter of Coel, as the legend states. There 
is evidence both in support of the story and against 
it. Perhaps it will never be known how much of 
the legendary account of Saint Helena's life and 
work is fact, and how much fancy. 

Helena was divorced by Constantius, for reasons 
of state, but was highly honored by her son when 
he became master of the Roman world. Spenser, 



OLD KING COLE l8l 

in the "Faerie Queene," speaks thus of King Coel 
and Helena: 

Then gan this realm renew herpass-ed prime: 
He of his name Coylchester built of stone and lime. 

Which when the Romans heard, they hither sent 
Constantius, a man of mickle might, 
With whom King Coy 11 made an agre-e-ment, 
And to him gave for wife his daughter bright, 
Fair Helena, the fairest living wight, 
Who in all goodly thews and goodly praise 
Did far excel, but was most famous hight 
For skill in music of all in her days, 
As well in curious instruments as cunning lays: 

Of whom he did great Constantine beget, 
Who afterward was Emperor of Rome, 



CHAPTER XXIII 
VORTIGERN 

A BRITISH noble named Octavius succeeded 
in having himself proclaimed king, some time 
after the death of Coel; and for many years he 
gave annoyance to the Romans. He left no son, 
but a daughter. She, after much dissension 
among her counselors, was married to a kinsman 
named Maximus, who had become a Roman Sen- 
ator. In the legendary story he is called Maxim- 
ian; but he must not be confounded with the 
emperor of that name. After a stormy career, he 
is said to have been assassinated at Rome. In 
reality, he was killed by the emperor Theodosius, 
in a continental war. 

Gratian Municeps (not the emperor Gratian) fol - 
lowed, and is said to have built a wall across the 
country to the north — though this is doubtless an 
error, since the wall of Severus was already built, 
and had stood for two hundred years. Even with 
this w r all the Britons were unable to withstand the 
barbarians from the north, who invaded the island 
(as often before), and were not content with rav- 
aging the coasts, but pressed down through the 
interior, determined to possess themselves of the 

whole. 

182 



VORTIGERN 1 83 

The emperor was unable to aid the Britons. 
The Empire, indeed, was tottering to its fall. 
Dissensions within and invasions from without had 
so weakened it that its power was no longer feared. 
Vainly did the Britons appeal to Rome for aid 
against their enemies. ,4 The sea drives us to the 
barbarians/' they said, "and the barbarians drive 
us back to the sea; thus are we tossed to and fro 
between two kinds of death, being either drowned 
or put to the sword." These complaints are known 
in history as "the Groans of the Britons." 

The Gauls across the Channel were alike unpro- 
tected from the hordes of the North, and made 
common cause with the British, the people confer- 
ring upon one of their number, named Constantine, 
the sovereignty of both countries. This Constan- 
tine, who must not be confounded with the son of 
Helena, represented the Roman power in Britain, 
but was ambitious to reign independently. He 
is said to have been married to a noble Roman 
lady, who had been educated by Guethelin, Arch- 
bishop of London. 

History tells us that Constantine caused himself 
to be proclaimed emperor, and that he seemed at 
one time likely to succeed in establishing himself 
as such. He defeated the German invaders of 
Gaul, and wrested Spain from the emperor Hono- 
rius. His success, however, was brief. He died, 
leaving three sons — Constans, Aurelius Ambrosius, 
and Uther Pendraoron. 



1 84 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Constans was a priest, under vows. Neverthe- 
less, he was called to the throne, through the influ- 
ence of Vortigern, a powerful British noble. It is 
said that, when the bishops all refused to crown a 
priest, Vortigern performed that office himself. 

Vortigern governed the young king by the force 
of his own will, and succeeded in winning to him- 
self the favor of the populace by the exercise of 
every base art. When he had fully established his 
power, he contrived to have the king assassinated, 
and seated himself on the throne. Such is the 
legendary account. However, it is believed that 
Constans and his father were both killed in Gaul, 
in which country they had fixed the seat of their 
government, leaving Britain to suffer great neglect. 

Vortigern, at all events, became king of the 
Britons. In his reign occurred an event of vast 
significance in the history of the great world in 
succeeding ages. This was the Saxon migration, 
by which Great Britain became peopled by a 
branch of the Germanic race known as the Anglo- 
Saxons. Vortigern had only trouble in his reign. 
He was unable to repress the invaders from the 
north, known in history as the Picts and Scots, 
and he feared the vengeance of the brothers of the 
late king, who had fled to the continent. 

In the year 449 there arrived in Kent two Ger- 
manic chiefs, known as Hengist and Horsa, who 
came attended by a bold company of warriors 
armed with short swords. Vortigern received his 



VORTIGERN 1 85 

visitors kindly, and invited them to bring a larger 
force and aid him against his enemies. The invi- 
tation was accepted, and great numbers followed 
these leaders to Britain, where they quickly over- 
came the invaders from the north, and then, 
instead of returning home, determined to remain 
permanently. The newcomers were of various 
tribes, known as Jutes, Angles, and Saxons. They 
were from Jutland (now in Denmark) and the 
neighboring shores of Germany,, 

Vortigern, being invited to visit the camp of 
Hengist, was captivated by the beauty of that 
chieftain's daughter Rowena, who gave him wine 
in a goblet of gold, and he at once asked for her 
hand in marriage. Immediately, while he was half 
intoxicated with the wine, the marriage ceremony 
was performed, and Vortigern gave to Hengist the 
whole of Kent. 

Vortigern had already three sons, and was nom- 
inally a Christian. His marriage to a pagan, and 
his reckless disposition of one of the most impor- 
tant provinces of the kingdom, gave great offense 
to the people, who soon set up his son Vortimer to 
reign in his stead, and made war upon the Saxons, 
as the newcomers were generally called. In one 
of the battles that were fought, Catigern, another 
son of Vortigern, met Horsa in a hand-to-hand 
contest, and both were killed. A peculiar old 
structure of stones, called "Kit Cotty's House," in 
Kent, is said to mark the grave of Catigern. 



1 86 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Vortigern seems to have been completely under 
the influence of his young wife. Rowena did not 
fail to note the ability of Vortimer, and she deter- 
mined to have him removed. She basely bribed 
one of his companions to poison him. 

After his son's death, the king became seriously 
alarmed at the vast number of Saxons who were 
coming to his country, and resolved to lead his 
people against them. The crafty Hengist, learning 
of this, pacified Vortigern by claiming that he had 
not learned of Vortimer's death, and that his army 
was only for defensive purposes. He invited the 
British king and nobles to a great conference at 
Ambrius (now Ambresbury). He treacherously 
planned that all the Saxons should carry daggers 
hidden under their clothing. 

While they were in the midst of their discussions, 
Hengist suddenly called out, "Take your arms!" 
This was the signal which he had arranged to give 
his men for a general slaughter of the Britons. 
As he spoke, Hengist seized Vortigern by the 
cloak, and held him fast, while four hundred and 
sixty of the British nobles and officers were stabbed 
to death. 

One valiant Briton, Eldol by name, is said to 
have made a brave defense. Seizing a stake of 
wood, which he happened to see lying near, he 
used it as a club; and so powerful were his strokes 
that he killed or maimed no less than seventy 
Saxons by his blows, and then made his escape. 



VORTIGERN 1 87 

Some others of the Britons also defended them- 
selves with spirit; but as all were taken completely 
by surprise, they were overcome without much 
difficulty. 

Vortigern was not killed, but was held as a pris- 
oner until he bought his release by delivering up 
to the Saxons his principal towns. He then retired 
to Cambria (Wales), where he was not molested by 
them. 

Of the stories told of Vortigern, there is a very 
singular one, which relates to a youth of super- 
natural powers. It formed the basis of some very 
famous romances in later centuries. The name of 
the youth was Merlin. The original account of 
him bears little resemblance to the later fictions 
of the romancers. 

The defeated king determined to build in Cam- 
bria a strong tower for his own defense; but though 
he selected for its site a ledge of a mountain, the 
foundations which the workmen laid by day were 
swallowed up at night. On consulting with magi- 
cians, he was told that he must find a youth who 
never had a human father, kill him, and sprinkle 
the stones and mortar with his blood. Then the 
foundations, they said, would not sink. The king 
sent messengers to all parts of the country, to find, 
if possible, a person answering to this description. 

When these messengers came to a town called 
Caer-Merdin, they found some youths playing 
before the gate, and sat down among them to see 



1 88 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

the game. A dispute arose between two of the 
players, and one of them angrily said to the other: 

'You fool ! How do you presume to quarrel with 
me? I am of royal blood; while you — you never 
had a father, and nobody knows who you are." 

The name of the young man so addressed was 
Merlin. Upon inquiry, it was found that his mother 
was the daughter of a prince, and lived among the 
nuns in the town of Dimetia. On learning this, 
the messengers of Vortigern summoned both the 
mother and the son to appear before the king, 
which they did. The lady, on being questioned, 
declared that Merlin was the son of a phantom, or 
spirit, without bodily form. 

Merlin now inquired why he had been brought 
before the king, and was fully informed of the 
reason, and of the king's intention to kill him and 
sprinkle his blood upon the building materials of 
the new tower. 

Merlin boldly demanded that the magicians of 
the king be brought before him; and when they 
had come, he asked of them what had caused the 
foundations to sink. When they were unable to 
answer, Merlin told them that there was a pond of 
water deep under the ground. An excavation 
was made, and this was found to be the case. 

Merlin then predicted that when the pond should 
be drained, there would be found two hollow 
stones at the bottom, and in them two sleeping 
dragons. This also turned out as he had said. 



VORTIGERN l8Q 

Then Vortigern sat upon the bank of the drained 
pond, and the two dragons, one white and one red, 
came forth and fought one with another. At first 
the white dragon prevailed, and then the red. 

The king now believed the young man to be a 
true prophet, and listened with awe to his explana- 
tion of what all this portended. The prophecy, as 
it has come down to us, is long and weird. What 
the weak and cowardly king most desired to know 
was his own fate. 

"Fly the fire of the sons of Constantine !" said 
Merlin. 

On the very next day, the story runs, the two 
brothers of Constans, the king whom Vortigern 
had murdered, arrived with a large army from 
Gaul. Vortigern was in the city of Genoren, to 
which he had fled for refuge. The sons of Con- 
stantine pursued him. They tried to beat down 
the walls of the city; and when they failed in this, 
they set fire to the place. 

The king had shut himself up in a tower, in his 
terror, and could not summon up the courage to 
come out and fight. The tower was burned, and 
he perished in it. Thus did "the fire of the sons 
of Constantine" bring punishment to the murderer. 

Aurelius Ambrosius now became king of the 
Britons in Cambria, which the Saxons called 
"Wales" — perhaps at first in an attempt to call it 
Gales, or the country of the Gauls (as they assumed 
the Britons to be), though the Saxon root-word 



IQO 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 







u 

< 
Q 



03 

e 



VORTIGERN igi 

wal had a meaning of its own, signifying strci7iger y 
or foreigner, and was thus applied to the Britons and 
to their country. A war with the Saxons followed, 
and Eldol, in one of the battles, found an oppor- 
tunity to revenge himself on Hengist. Seizing 
him by the helmet, he dragged him, a prisoner, to 
the British battle line; and after the fight was over, 
the Saxon chief was beheaded, Eldol cleaving the 
captive's neck with a heavy sword. 

At the suggestion of Merlin, the king decided to 
attempt a mighty feat of engineering in the erec- 
tion of a monument in honor of his victories. This 
was no less than the removal from Ireland of a 
vast fabric of magical stones, called the "Giants' 
Dance." The giants of old, Merlin declared, had 
brought the stones from Africa, for their medicinal 
virtues; for the water in which any of these stones 
were washed would heal any sick persons who 
might be immersed in it. 

Uther Pendragon, brother of the king, conducted 
an expedition of fifteen thousand men to Ireland, 
defeated the natives who opposed them, and, under 
the direction of Merlin, brought the great stone 
fabric to Britain and set it up, amid great 
rejoicings. 

Thus does legend account for the Druidical 
remains at Stonehenge. Of the real origin of this 
marvelous monument of antiquity, we really know 
nothing. It was erected, no doubt, far, far in the 
past, before the beginning of history. 



192 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Aurelius is said to have been poisoned by order 
of Pascentius, a chieftain whom he had defeated 
in battle. His death, we are told, was prefigured 
by a star of wonderful brightness. 

Uther Pendragon succeeded, and continued the 
war with the Saxons, defeating Octa, the son of 
Hengist, and Octa's kinsman Eossa. Uther, too, 
died from poison, which was put into his favorite 
spring by his Saxon foes. He is remembered 
chiefly as the father of Arthur. His name is 
immortalized in a familiar verse of Milton's 
"Paradise Lost" (Book I, 1. 580). The oft-cited 
reference is in these words: 

What resounds 
In fable or romance of Uther's son, 
Begirt with British and Armoric Knights. 

It is a little singular that the name of so great a 
hero as Arthur does not appear at all in this poem, 
while that of his less famous father is thus rendered 
familiar to the world. 

Of the period of Vortigern and Aurelius, we 
have little authoritative information. The Romans 
no longer visited the Britons, or wrote about them. 
The Roman Empire of the West came to its end 
in the year 476, and a period of ignorance, called 
the Dark Ages, began, from which Europe did not 
emerge for a thousand years. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
KING ARTHUR 

ARTHUR, the son of Uther, is the most famous 
of all the legendary kings of Britain. His 
fame rests largely, however, upon the romances 
which were written many centuries after his death 
Indeed, he came to be a favorite subject for the 
early English story-writers who sought to depict 
ideal manhood; and his name has become a symbol 
for loftiness of character and purity of life. 

Heretofore the story of the British kings has 
been in part legendary and in part historical. 
With the downfall of Roman power the historical 
record ends; and for the rest the account is partly 
legend and partly pure fiction. We will follow 
first the legend of this famous king. 

The crown of Britain was placed upon Arthur's 
head when he was but fifteen years of age. In his 
first impulse of boyish generosity he emptied his 
treasury, giving all its wealth to the soldiers. 

Determined from the beginning to recover from 
the Saxons as much as possible of the ancient 
kingdom of Britain, he advanced against them at 
York, where a great Saxon army, newly arrived 
from the Continent, had assembled under com- 
mand of Colgrin. Arthur won a great victory over 

193 



I Q4 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

his foes, who were allied with the Picts and Scots, 
the ancient enemies of his people. 

The battle occurred on the river Duglas, and 
Colgrin fled from the field to the city of York, 
where he prepared to sustain a siege His brother 
Baldulph — then on the eastern coast, awaiting rein- 
forcements from across the sea — learned of Col- 
grin's situation, and hastened to his relief. Arthur 
sent Cador, the Duke of Cornwall, to intercept 
him, and in this the duke succeeded. 

Baldulph then had recourse to stratagem. Shav- 
ing his head and beard, he assumed the disguise of 
a harper and jester. He passed, unsuspected, 
through the host of the besiegers at York, for 
the soldiers were always kind to the players who 
amused their long hours of waiting, and had little 
reason to suspect that a poor harper was a king in 
disguise When Baldulph reached the walls of the 
city, he was recognized by the soldiers above, who 
let down cords and drew him up to them. 

At that time a powerful fleet arrived with rein- 
forcements for the Saxons, and Arthur was per- 
suaded by his counselors to retire from the siege. 
He withdrew to London, and sent ambassadors to 
his nephew, King Hoel of Armorica, in Gaul, 
requesting aid. 

Hoel quickly responded, and came with an army 
of fifteen thousand men. He landed at Hamo's 
Port (Southampton), where Arthur joyfully re- 
ceived him, and the two Christian kings advanced 



KING ARTHUR IQ5 

against the heathen armies in Lindocolinum (Lin- 
coln). 

Defeated at first, the Saxons retired to the forest 
of Celidon, where they were protected by the thick 
trees. Arthur fenced them in with a redoubt of 
tree-trunks, and thus besieged them. Being out of 
provisions, the Saxons made the most abject terms 
of surrender, on condition that they should be 
allowed to return to their own country. They 
gave up all their valuables, and even agreed to 
send tribute money from the Continent. 

They were permitted to depart from Britain; but 
they did not keep their word. Shortly after put- 
ting out to sea, they turned about and landed at 
Totness, and ravaged the country as far as the 
city of Bath, putting all the peasantry to the 
sword. 

Arthur left King Hoel, who was ill at Alclud, 
and hurried to Somerset, where he won a great 
victory. Colgrin and Baldulph were both slain. 

This was a conflict of religions, as well as of 
races. Arthur wore a gold helmet and a shield 
which bore the portrait of the Virgin Mary, and 
trusted in God to enable him to overthrow his 
heathen adversaries who broke their solemn cove- 
nants. Leaving the Duke of Cornwall to pursue 
the defeated Saxons, he hastened to Alclud, where 
the Picts and Scots were besieging his nephew. 
And now the two kings pursued the besiegers to 
Loch Lomond, in Scotland. 



IQ6 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

At this time the realm was invaded from a new 
quarter, and Arthur had to face an army from Ire- 
land. So exasperated was he at the continual 
warfare with the Picts and Scots, that he thought 
of exterminating the whole race of them; but from 
this he was dissuaded by the entreaties of their 
priests. A period of peace succeeded, in which 
Arthur restored the ruined churches of York, amid 
great and general rejoicings. 

Arthur now settled the affairs of Scotland, 
appointing princes to rule in the various provinces. 
Next he effected a complete conquest of Ireland, 
and conquered Iceland, Scandinavia, and the Ork- 
neys, placing over them kings of his choice. Next 
the great king went to Gaul, and besieged Flollo, 
who still claimed to be a representative of the 
Roman Empire, at Paris. 

Flollo proposed that, in order to spare the suffer- 
ing of a great battle, there should be but a single 
combat between him and the king of the Britons. 
To this the chivalrous Arthur consented, and the 
duel was arranged to take place on the island 
within the city of Paris. 

It was a glorious combat. There were thousands 
of spectators. Both of the chieftains were arrayed 
in coats of glittering mail, and were mounted on 
magnificent horses. When they ran together, 
Arthur's lance struck the breast of Flollo, and the 
latter was thrown off his horse. Before the king 
could despatch him, Flollo sprang up and stabbed 



KING ARTHUR 197 

the king's horse, and both beast and rider fell. 
There followed a terrific combat on foot. 

Flollo aimed a heavy blow at the head of Arthur, 
who was saved only by the resistance of his helmet. 
Then Arthur hurled upon the head of Flollo a ter- 
rible blow with his battle-ax, and the Gallic ruler 
sank to the ground and expired. 

For nine years King Arthur remained in France, 
holding his court at Paris, and bestowing the gov- 
ernment of the various provinces upon worthy 
rulers. Then he returned to Britain, and was 
solemnly crowned in the City of Legions, with 
great splendor. 

Learning of a combination of eastern kings for 
the overthrow of his realm, Arthur left the govern- 
ment of Britain to his nephew Modred, and pre- 
pared to return to the Continent. 

While sailing from Hamo's Port, he had a 
strange dream at midnight. He thought he saw a 
flying bear, which grappled with a great dragon 
having flaming eyes. The dragon burned its 
adversary with its fiery breath, and the bear fell, 
scorched, to the earth. This was interpreted to 
mean that Arthur (the dragon) should have an 
encounter with a giant (the bear). 

Shortly afterward the king learned that a great 
Spanish giant had stolen Helena, the niece of 
Hoel, and had carried her away to Michael's 
Mount, or Mont St. Michel, a towering island rock 
just off the northern coast of France. With only 



IQ8 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

two companions — Bedver, a butler, and Caius, a 
sewer — the king sought out this lonely retreat. 

Bedver at first approached it in a boat, alone. 
Listening at the base of the cliff, he heard the 
piteous cries of a woman. Hurriedly climbing the 
ascent, he found upon the summit a fire and a 
newly-made grave, near which was seated an old 
woman, who was weeping bitterly. 

The old woman urged Bedver to fly at once, and 
lose not a moment. She said that the giant had 
killed both the princess and her maid, who had 
just been buried. Hastening back to join the king, 
Bedver told him what he had seen and heard. 
Then Arthur sought out the giant alone, and there 
was a terrible conflict between them. 

Two strong men could scarcely have lifted the 
giant's club from the ground. Yet the giant's 
blows upon Arthurs shield fell harmless, though 
they made the mountain ring with their noise. 
A skillful thrust from Arthur s mighty sword at last 
laid the monster low; and then, the attendants 
having come up, Bedver struck off the giant's 
head, which was given to an armor-bearer, to be 
carried to the camp of the army when they should 
land. The ruins upon Michael's Mount are said 
to have been Helena's tomb. 

Arthurs alleged wars on the Continent are in 
keeping with these stories handed down from the 
days of ignorance. They need not be followed in 
detail. 



KING ARTHUR 199 

While crossing the Alps on his way to Rome, the 
king learned that his nephew Modred, whom he 
had left as regent, had set the crown upon his own 
head. Arthur returned to Britain, where he twice 
defeated Modred's army. In the last of the bat- 
tles the great king himself was wounded unto 
death. Yet he did not die as other mortals. There 
is something very mysterious about his end. By 
his own orders the dying hero was borne away to 
the Isle of Avalon, whence he never returned. No 
such island is now known. 

It is easy to see that the story of Arthur s reign 
is not history in any sense. He lived in a time 
when little or nothing was written, and when there 
were no Druids to perpetuate events in carefully 
composed verses. Concerning Arthur's alleged 
exploits on the Continent, Dr. J. A. Giles, of 
Oxford, remarks: 

It is wonderful that the contents of this book [Geoffrey 
of Monmouth's] should ever have passed for authentic 
history; our ancestors of the eleventh, twelfth, and 
thirteenth centuries must have been singularly ignorant 
of everything concerning the later ages of the Roman 
Empire, and the formation of the modern kingdoms of 
France and Germany, etc., if they could believe that 
Arthur ever held court in Paris. 

The most that we really know about Arthur is 
that he was a great and beloved leader of the 
Britons, who made a brave stand against the Sax- 
ons in defense of his country and people. 



200 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The Arthur of pure fiction is the hero of a vast 
number of stories. Toward the close of the Mid- 
dle Ages romance began to flourish in the lands of 
Western Europe. There were elegant romances 
of chivalry, which were told for amusement, and 
there were religious romances, composed with a 
view to aiding the work of the churches. Gradually, 
a number of these, which were not at all con- 
nected in the beginning, became united in what is 
called a ''cycle." That is, they came to be told 
about the same persons, or to be connected with 
them in some way. 

In all the romances of what is called the 
"Arthurian Cycle" King Arthur is made the cen- 
tral figure; and the stories take up his wife, 
Queen Guinevere, and the various knights and 
ladies of his court, together with Merlin, the 
"enchanter," and the mysterious Holy Grail, that 
have both been described in preceding chapters of 
this book. 

Arthur's sword was named Excalibur. He 
received it in a very mysterious manner. While 
mourning over his earlier sword, which was broken, 
he saw an arm rise from the surface of a lake, near 
by, and he received the weapon from its hand. 
His mantle was made from the beards of kings, 
and was won by conquest. Camelot (Winchester) 
was his capital, and his palace was built through 
the magic of Merlin. In its great hall was a round 
table, with places for his knights, the number of 



KING ARTHUR 



20I 




The Arm in the Lake 



202 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

these varying from a dozen to several hundred, 
according to the story-teller. 

A place was left upon the table for the Holy 
Grail when it should reappear on the earth; and 
the Knights of the Round Table devoted their lives 
to the service of God, in the hope that this sacred 
dish might be restored to men. Endless stories 
are told of the "quests" made through the earth by 
these pure-hearted men in search of it. None of 
these is more beautiful than that contained in the 
poem of James Russell Lowell, entitled 'The 
Vision of Sir Launfal." 

Sir Lancelot du Lac figures in the old romances 
as one of the most gifted of all the knights; but he 
caused the beautiful Queen Guinevere to sin, and 
destroyed her happiness. Then she retired to a 
convent, where she found peace in penitence. 

Geraint, a nephew of the king, was married to 
Enid, a model of wifely love and patience, whom 
he long misunderstood and subjected to severe 
trials. 

Sir Galahad the Chaste was successful in his 
quest, for he was permitted to see the Holy Grail 
borne by angels through the air. 

Elaine, a maid of Astolat, who nursed the 
wounds of Sir Lancelot, fell in love with the 
knight, and died from her hopeless passion. 

Vivian, a counterpart of Merlin, was the original 
"Lady of the Lake." Merlin revealed to her 
the secret of a charm, and she treacherously used 



KING ARTHUR 



203 




S 

fa 

O 

o 



O 



204 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

it to confine him forever in a bush in a certain 
forest. 

When King Arthur received his mortal wound 
from his nephew Modred, he believed that he 
would not die, and gave orders that he be laid in a 
barge, draped in black, that he might make a jour- 
ney to the Isle of Avalon. 

Sir Bedivere was now the last remaining knight 
of all the famous company of the Round Table. 
He begged to be permitted to go with the king, 
but this was denied him. At the king's order he 
flung far out into the lake the sword Excalibur, 
and again the arm rose from the lake and received 
it. The journey of the king to the fabulous Isle of 
Avalon is called the "passing" of Arthur. 

Lord Tennyson, the late Poet Laureate of Great 
Britain, wrote many poems relating to Arthur and 
the knights and ladies of his court. A number of 
these, constituting a cycle, he entitled the "Idylls of 
the King," and dedicated to the memory of Prince 
Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria. A collec- 
tion of Arthurian tales, in Malory's beautiful Eng- 
lish prose of old days, was issued about half a 
century ago, by Bulfinch, and has been very widely 
read. 

Other writers of poetry and prose, on both sides 
of the Atlantic, have caused the subject to be pop- 
ular in our own time; and there are few that love 
the beautiful in story who are not acquainted to 
some extent with the tales of the great British king 



KING ARTHUR 205 

of ancient days. Here is Tennyson's poem on the 
passing of Arthur: 

Morte d' Arthur 

So all day long the noise of battle roll'd 

Among the mountains by the winter sea; 

Until King Arthur's table, man by man, 

Had fallen in Lyonness about their Lord, 

King Arthur: then, because his wound was deep, 

The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him, 

Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights, 

And bore him to a chapel nigh the field, 

A broken chancel with a broken cross, 

That stood on a dark strait of barren land. 

On one side lay the Ocean, and on one 

Lay a great water, and the moon was full. 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere: 
"The sequel of to-day unsolders all 
The goodliest fellowship of famous knights 
Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep 
They sleep— the men I loved. I think that we 
Shall nevermore, at any future time, 
Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds, 
Walking about the gardens and the halls 
Of Camelot, as in the days that were. 
I perish by this people which I made, — 
Tho' Merlin sware that I should come agair 
To rule once more — but let what will be, be, 
I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm 
That without help I cannot last till morn. 
Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur, 
Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how 



206 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

In those old days, one summer noon, an arm 

Rose up from out the bosom of the lake, 

Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 

Holding the sword — and how I row'd across 

And took it, and have worn it like a king: 

And, wheresoever I am sung or told 

In aftertime, this also shall be known: 

But now delay not: take Excalibur, 

And fling him far into the middle mere: 

Watch what thou seest, and lightly bring me word.' 4 ' 

To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere: 
"It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus, 
Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm. 
A little thing may harm a wounded man. 
Yet I thy hest will all perform at full, 
Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word/ 

So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept 
And in the moon athwart the place of tombs, 
Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men, 
Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang 
Shrill, chill, w r ith flakes of foam. He, stepping down 
By zig-zag paths, and juts of pointed rock, 
Came on the shining levels of the lake. 

There drew he forth the brand Excalibur, 
And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon, 
Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth 
And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt: 
For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks, 
Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work 
Of subtlest jewelry. He gazed so long 
That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood, 
This way and that dividing the swift mind, 



KING ARTHUR 207 

In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd 
Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd 
There in the many-knotted water-flags, 
That whistled stiff and dry about the marge. 
So strode he back slow to the wounded king. 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere: 
"Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave? 
What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?" 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere: 
"I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, 
And the wild water lapping on the crag." 

To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale: 
"Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name. 
Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd 
Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight; 
For surer sign had follow'd, either hand, 
Or voice, or else a motion of the mere. 
This is a shameful thing for men to lie, 
Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again, 
As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing 
I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word." 

Then went Sir Bedivere the second time 
Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere, 
Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought; 
But when he saw the wonder of the hilt, 
How curiously and strangely chased, he smote 
His palms together, and he cried aloud, 

"And if indeed I cast the brand away, 
Surely a precious thing, one worthy note, 
Should thus be lost forever from the earth, 
Which might have pleased the eyes of many men. 
What good should follow this, if this were done? 



208 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

What harm, undone? deep harm to disobeys 

Seeing obedience is the bond of rule. 

Were it well to obey then, if a king demand 

An act unprofitable, against himself? 

The King is sick, and knows not what he does, 

What record, or what relic of my lord 

Should be to aftertime, but empty breath 

And rumors of a doubt? but were this kept, 

Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings. 

Some one might show it at a jous^ of arms, 

Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur, 

Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake. 

Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps 

Upon the hidden bases of the hills.' 

So might some old man speak in the aftertime 

To all the people, winning reverence. 

But now much honor and much fame were lost.'' 

So spake he, clouded with his own conceir. 
And hid Excalibur the second time, 
And so strode back slow to the wounded King. 

Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily: 
"What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?" 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere: 
"I heard the water lapping on the crag, 
And the long ripple washing in the reeds." 
* To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath: 
"Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue, 
Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me! 
Authority forgets a dying king, 
Laid widow'd of the power in his eye 
That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art, 
For thou, the latest left of all my knights, 



KING ARTHUR 209 

In whom should meet the offices of all, 

Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt; 

Either from lust of gold, or like a girl 

Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes. 

Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice, 

And the third time may prosper, get thee hence: 

But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur, 

I will arise and slay thee with my hands." 

Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran, 
And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged 
Among the bulrush-beds, and clutch'd the sword, 
And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand 
Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon, 
And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch, 
Shot like a streamer of the northern morn, 
Seen where the moving isles of winter shock 
By night, with noises of the northern sea. 
So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur: 
But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 
And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him 
Three times, and drew him under in the mere. 
And lightly went the other to the King. 

Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath: 
''Now see I by thine eyes that this is done. 
Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?" 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere: 
"Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems 
Should blind my purpose, for I never saw, 
Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die, 
Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men, ■ 
So great a miracle as yonder hilt. 



2IO THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him; 
But when 1 look'd again, behold an arm, 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 
That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him 
Three times, and drew him under in the mere." 

And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard: 
"My end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone. 
Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight, 
And bear me to the margin; yet I fear 
My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die. " 

So saying, from the pavement he half rose, 
Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm, 
And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes, 
As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere 
Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears, 
And would have spoken, but he found not words, 
Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee, 
O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands, 
And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs. 

But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard, 
Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed 
When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King, 
Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick! 
I feai it is too late, and I shall die/' 
But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge, 
Clothed with his breath, and looking, as he walk'd, 
Larger than human on the frozen hills. 
He heard the deep behind him, and a cry 
Before. His own thought drove him, like a goad. 
Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves 
And barren chasms, and all to left and right 
The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based 



KING ARTHUR 



211 




The Passing of Arthur 



212 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang 
Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels — 
And on a sudden, lo! the level lake, 
And the long glories of the winter moon. 

Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge, 
Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern, 
Beneath them; and descending they were ware 
That all the decks were dense with stately forms 
Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream — by these 
Three Queens with crowns of gold — and from them rose 
A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars, 
And, as it were one voice, an agony 
Of lamentation, like a wind, that shrills 
All night in a waste land, where no one comes, 
Or hath come, since the making of the world. 

Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge," 
And to the barge they came. There those three Queens 
Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept. 
But she that rose the tallest of them all 
And fairest, laid his head upon her lap, 
And loosed the shatter'd casque, and chafed his hands, 
And call'd him by his name, complaining loud, 
And dropping bitter tears against his brow 
Striped with dark blood; for all his face was white 
And colorless, and like the wither'd moon 
Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east; 
And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops 
Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls — 
That made his forehead like a rising sun 
High from the dais-throne — were parch'd with dust; 
Or, clotted into points and hanging loose, 
Mix'd with the knightly growth that fringed his lips. 



KING ARTHUR 213 

So like a shatter'd column lay the King; 
Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest, 
From spur to plume a star of tournament, 
Shot thro' the lists at Camelot, and charged 
Before the eyes of ladies and of kings. 

Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere: 
"Ah, my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go? 
Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes? 
For now I see the true old times are dead, 
When every morning brought a noble chance, 
And every chance brought out a noble knight. 
Such times have been not since the light that led 
The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh. 
But now the whole Round Table is dissolved, 
Which was an image of the mighty world; 
And I, the last, go forth companionless, 
And the days darken round me, and the years, 
Among new men, strange faces, other minds." 

And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge: 
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
And God fulfils Himself in many ways, 
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 
Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me? 
I have lived my life, and that which I have done 
May He within Himself make pure! but thou, 
If thou shouldst never see my face again, 
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day; 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 



214 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Both for themselves and those who call them friend? 

For so the whole round earth is every way 

Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. 

But now farewell. I am going a long way 

With these thou seest — if indeed I go — 

(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt) 

To the island-valley of Avilion; 

Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, 

Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies 

Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard-lawns 

And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea, 

Where I will heal me of my grievous wound." 

So said he, and the barge with oar and sail 
Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan 
That, fluting a wild carol ere her death, 
Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood 
With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere 
Revolving many memories, till the hull 
Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn, 
And on the mere the wailing died away. 



The story of the ancient Britons is told. From 
the time of Arthur, they abandoned to the Saxon 
invaders almost the whole of England (Angle-land); 
but in the mountainous tract of Wales they main- 
tained their independence for centuries. There 
and in Cornwall are to be found their descendants 
to this day. 

Christianity and letters came again to England 
as the Saxons became converted and instructed by 
missionaries from Rome; and in British soil took 



KING ARTHUR 21 5 

root and developed the mighty civilization of the 
Anglo-Saxon race. For eight centuries the Welsh 
have shared the high destiny of the English nation; 
yet to this day they cling tenaciously to the lan- 
guage and the traditions of their remote ancestors. 

In every generation for centuries many have 
gone forth from Wales to mingle with the other 
elements of population in the English-speaking 
world, and have left their impress strongly marked 
upon society. Even in England to-day the Welsh 
surnames are among the most common and famil- 
iar, showing how thoroughly the ancient British 
blood has been mingled with the Anglo-Saxon. 

Both of the great divisions of the English-speak- 
ing world of to-day are of composite origin; and 
one of the race elements which has proved a very 
important factor in the development of each as a 
people is that of the ancient Britons. Over the 
English nation the Welsh House of Tudor reigned 
from 1485 to 1603, which period includes some of 
the most noted reigns in history; and from this 
house is descended the present royal family of the 
United Kingdom. Of the signers of the American 
Declaration of Independence, no less than eighteen 
were of Welsh origin; and fourteen of the Ameri- 
can generals in the Revolutionary War were Welsh 
by nativity or descent. The captain of the "May- 
flower," and a number of the Pilgrims were Welsh- 
men. Eight of our presidents have been of the 
same stock. 



2l6 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

The name Britain, as applied to the island, fell 
into disuse with the development of the kingdoms 
of England and Scotland. A form of the word 
was applied to a portion of the mainland of France, 
to which great numbers of the Britons fled at the 
time of the Saxon conquest. This important part 
of the Gallic coast received the name of Brittany 
(Bretagne), by which it is known to this day. 
Three centuries ago, when England and Scotland 
became united under one king, James the First, the 
name of Britain was revived, to designate the 
entire island, with the prefix Great, to distinguish 
it from the lesser Britain (Brittany) beyond the 
Channel. 

Many of the ancient records and poems of the 
Welsh were ruthlessly destroyed, when Wales was 
invaded by the English; and there was a general 
massacre of the Welsh bards, who were the cus- 
todians of the national traditions. These barbarous 
acts were committed in the effort to extinguish the 
spirit of nationality and exclusiveness of the proud 
Welsh people. 

The oldest existing account of the legendary 
kings of Britain is the Historia Britonum, which 
was written in Latin by Geoffrey, an archdeacon 
of Monmouth, who became Bishop of St. Asaph, 
and who died about 1154. Geoffrey claimed to 
have drawn his materials from an old manuscript 
book brought from Brittany by Walter, an arch- 
deacon of Oxford. Between the death of King 



KING ARTHUR 217 

Arthur and the appearance of Geoffrey's history 
there is a span of more than five centuries. In the 
absence of corroborative manuscripts, it is of course 
impossible now to trace the transmission of the 
narrative through this long period in a satisfactory 
manner. 

Geoffrey's history met with a general acceptance, 
and the kings of England proudly traced their suc- 
cession from Brut, the Trojan prince. When sub- 
jected to criticism at a later period, this narrative 
shared the fate of the Greek and Roman legends, 
and was rejected by historians. 

Within recent times the real value of the legends 
of all nations has come to be appreciated; and the 
tales of ancient heroes of the Greeks and Romans, 
while not now accepted as history, are more fondly 
cherished than ever before, being assigned their 
true place as folklore. The British legends — 
equally picturesque, equally illustrative of the 
character and institutions of the people among 
whom they originated — have for us an added inter- 
est, since they relate to our own kindred in the 
ancient British world. 



THE ROYAL LINE OF ANCIENT BRITAIN 

According to Geoffrey of Mo?imouth 
yEneas 

Ascanius 

I. 
Sylvius Pandrasus 

Corineus i. Brutus ux. Ignoge 

3. Guendoloena — nx. — 2 Locrin 

4. Maddan 

5. Mempricius 

6. Ebraucus 

1 

7. Brutus 

8. Leil 

9. Hudibras 

10. Bladud 

1 

11. Leir 

I 

1 1 1 . 

12. Gonorilla Regan Cordeilla 

13. Cunedagius 

1 

218 



THE ROYAL LINE OF ANCIENT BRITAIN 2IQ 

I 

14. Rivallo 



15 Gurgustius 
16. Sisilius 

1 



18. Kinmarcus 

19. Gorbogudo ux. 



I 
( ) 

17. Jago 



Widen 



Ferrex 



Porrex 



I 

25. Kimarus 



20. Dunwallo 

1 . 

21. Belinus 

1 
1 

22. Gurgiunt Brabtruc 

23. Guithelin ux. 

I .. 

24. Sisilius 



Martia 



26. Darius 

I 

27. Morvidus 

I 



28. m 29. 30. 31. 32. 

Gorbonian Arthgallo Elidure Vigenius Peredure 

( Thirty-two tinremembered reigns) 

65. Heli 



220 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 



I I. i . 

66. Lud 67. Cassibellaun Nenniu: 



68. Tenuantius 
69. Kymbelinus 



70. Guiderius 71. Arviragus 

72. Marius 



73. Coillus 

I 

74. Lucius 

1 

75. Severus 

1 

76. Bassianus, or Caracalla 

jj. Carausius 

78. Allectus 

79. Asclepiodotus 

80. Coel 

1 

81. Constantius ux. Helena 

1 . 

82. Constantine 
83. Octavius 

(Daughter)-?/*.-^. Maximian 

85. Gratian Municeps 



THE ROYAL LINE OF ANCIENT BRITAIN 221 

86. Constantine 

87. Constans 89. Aurelius Ambrosius 90. Uther Pendragon 

88. Vortigern 91. Arthur 



222 



THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 




< 



NOTES OF CRITICISM ON GREEK, 
ROMAN, AND BRITISH LEGENDS 

Three successive classes of critics have passed 
upon the early legends of great nations. At one 
time the legendary accounts of the Greeks, the 
Romans, and the Britons were accepted as history, 
and taught as such in the text-books. Later, they 
were wholly rejected, because they were found 
to be untrustworthy. Still later, the Greek and 
Roman legends were restored to the books of his- 
tory — not as historical matter, but as a valuable 
prelude to veritable history, in their character as 
folklore. 

It might be difficult to show why the British 
legends should not share in this restoration, as 
they shared in the acceptance and rejection by 
successive critics. 

The following notes of criticism will be of inter- 
est to the more mature reader, as expressing the 
careful judgment of noted scholars upon the Trojan 
cycle in its three principal forms — Greek, Roman, 
and British: 

'The clouds which envelop the early history of 
Greece are lighted up by the brilliant hues of 
Grecian fable; but the reader must carefully guard 

against believing in the reality of the personages 

223 



224 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

or of the events commemorated by these beautiful 
legends. Some of them, it is true, probably sprang 
out of events which actually occurred, and may 
therefore contain a kernel of historical truth; but 
we have no means of distinguishing between what 
is true and what is false, between the historical 
facts and their subsequent embellishments. Till 
events are recorded in written documents, no 
materials exist for a trustworthy history. But 
even the mythical age must not be passed over 
entirely. In all cases the traditions of a people are 
worthy of record; and this is especially true of the 
Greeks, whose legends molded their faith and 
influenced their conduct down to the latest times." 

William Smith, LL.D* 

"Few persons will now be found to dispute the 
position that the early history of Rome, like that 
of all nations, begins with legendary tales. ... It is 
well known that the legends of Roman history 
were long repeated and regarded as sober historic 
truths. Some keen-sighted critics were excited to 
examine them, and proved by a long and careful 
investigation that they had no claim to be so 
regarded. Impossibilities were pointed out, dis- 
crepancies of time and fact noted, variations of the 
same story, as told by different writers, brought 
forward. Even in ancient times the miraculous 
nature of many of these legends w : as a stumbling 
block to sober annalists. The course these writers 



CRITICISM ON LEGENDS 225 

took in ancient times was what we now know by 
the name of rationalism. They retained all the 
statements of the legends, but explained them to 
suit common prose. . . . But the modern critics who 
showed the discrepancies and variations of the 
ancient legends took a different course. It was 
not the marvelous and supernatural incidents that 
attracted their notice; for after all there are not 
many of such kind in Roman annals. It was the 
manifest falsehood of many of the early stories 
which attracted notice — the exaltation of indi- 
vidual heroes, the concealment of defeats and 
losses on the part of Rome, . . . The immediate 
effect of these discoveries was, that for a time the 
annals of early Roman history were passed over in 
almost contemptuous silence. It was then that 
Niebuhr arose. He acknowledged the sagacity of 
these critics, and conceded to them that the early 
history, if regarded as an actual narrative of facts, 
was wholly unreal; but he refused to throw it all 
aside as arbitrary fiction. He showed that the 
early history of Rome, like that of all nations, was 
mythical or legendary, containing a poetical 
account of the first ages of the city, and not a 
sober historical narrative; but the legendary tradi- 
tions of the Roman people particularly are, he con- 
tended, so rich and so beautiful, that they give an 
insight into the early genius of the people which 
could never have been divined from the imitative 
literature which has been handed down as Roman, 



226 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Moreover, mingled up with the poetic legends of 
which we speak, there are accounts of laws and 
institutions which undeniably existed." 

Henry G. Liddell, LL.D. 

"There is no doubt that the Romans lived for a 
time under the rule of kings. . . . But the stories 
told in later times respecting the kings, their names 
and doings, are quite unworthy of credit. They 
rest upon no contemporary evidence or sure tradi- 
tion. To say nothing of the miraculous elements 
that enter into the narratives, they are laden with 
other improbabilities, which prove them to be the 
fruit of imagination. They contain impossibilities 
in chronology. They ascribe laws, institutions, and 
religion, which were of slow growth, to particular 
individuals, apportioning to each his own part in 
an artificial way. Many of the stories are bor- 
rowed from the Greeks, and were originally told by 
them about other matters; in short, the Roman 
legends, including dates, such as are recorded in 
this chapter, are fabrications to fill up a void in 
regard to which there was no authentic informa- 
tion, and to account for beliefs and customs the 
origin of which no one knew. They are of service, 
however, in helping us to ascertain the character 
of the Roman constitution, and something about 
its growth in the prehistoric age. . . . There are 
certain facts which are embedded in the legends." 

George Park Fisher, D.D. y LL.D. 



CRITICISM ON LEGENDS 227 

"In its beginnings, the history of Rome, like that 
of all other ancient peoples, is made up largely of 
traditions. But we must not suppose on this 
account that the early history of Rome is a mere 
blank. Like all other traditions, these stories have 
in them some element of truth. They show to us 
the ideas and the spirit of the Roman people; and 
they show how the Romans used to explain the 
origin of their own customs and institutions. While 
we may not believe all these stories we cannot 
ignore them entirely, because they have a certain 
kind of historic value, and have become a part of 
the world's literature." 

William C. Morey, Ph.D. 

"But now of Brutus and his line, with the whole 
progeny of kings to the entrance of Julius Caesar, 
we cannot so easily be discharged; descents of 
ancestry long continued, laws and exploits not 
plainly seeming to be borrowed or devised, which 
on the common belief have wrought no small 
impression; defended by many, denied utterly by 
few. For what though Brutus ana the whole 
Trojan pretense were yielded up, . . . yet these old 
and inborn names of successive kings, never to 
have been real persons or done in their lives at 
least some part of what so long hath been remem- 
bered, cannot be thought without too strict an 
credulity. . . . Thus far, though leaning only on 
the credit of Geoffrey Monmouth and his assertors, 



228 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

I yet, for the specified causes, have thought it not 
beneath my purpose to relate what I found. 
Whereof I neither oblige the belief of any other 
person, nor overhastily subscribe mine own. Nor 
have I stood with others computing or collating 
years and chronologies, lest I should be vainly 
curious about the time and circumstance of things 
whereof the substance is much in doubt." 

John Milton, 

'The tenacity with which this early series of 
British kings was defended is no less remarkable 
than the facility with which it was admitted. The 
chroniclers at the beginning of the seventeenth 
century warmly protested against the intrusive 
scepticism which would cashier so many venerable 
sovereigns and efface so many noble deeds. They 
appealed to the patriotic feelings of their hearers, 
represented the enormity of thus setting up a pre- 
sumptuous criticism against the belief of ages, and 
insisted on the danger of the precedent as regarded 
histories generally. . . . Two courses, and only 
two, are open: either to pass over the myths alto- 
gether, which is the way in which modern histo- 
rians treat the old British fables — or else to give 
an account of them as myths; to recognize and 
respect their specific nature, and to abstain from 
confounding them with ordinary and certifiable 
history." 

George Grote, F.R.S. 



CRITICISM ON LEGENDS 229 

'The legend of the Trojan ancestry of the Britons 
has, indeed, great antiquity. Sir Francis Palgrave 
— a high authority — in his learned work on the 
'British Commonwealth/ speaks of it as a doubt- 
ful point whether the stories on that subject existed 
before the arrival of the Romans, or whether the 
adventures of Brutus were invented by the bards 
to propitiate the favor of those who also prided 
themselves on being the progeny of Rome. . . . The 
legendary history of Britain, which is now so obso- 
lete, did, in its own time, good service in helping to 
form the national character; and doubtless the 
people rightfully and worthily kept their faith in it 
as long as they did* . . . When we consider that in 
our own day a great historical mind like Niebuhrs 
has actually made discoveries of historic truth in 
what used to appear so inextricably fabulous as the 
early history of Rome; when such historical sagac- 
ity as his has been successfully employed, not to 
teach a sweeping skepticism, but a just discrimina- 
tion between what was actual and what was fable; 
and when we see a mind so zealous after truth as 
Arnold's, carefully cherishing the Roman legends, 
not, indeed, as history, but as illustrative of it — we 
may venture a thought that haply it may be 
reserved for some historian in like manner to search 
out the truth that now is buried beneath the mass 
of old British legends." 

Henry Reed. 



23O THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

"The landing of Brutus with his fugitive Trojans 
on 'the White Island' and here founding a 'Troy 
Novant/ was one of the results of the immortality 
of Homer, though it came reflected through his 
imitator Virgil, whose Latin, in the Mediaeval Ages, 
was read when Greek was unknown. The landing 
of /Eneas on the shores of Italy, and the pride of 
the Romans in their Trojan ancestry, as their flat- 
tering epic sanctioned, every modern people, in 
their jealousy of antiquity, eagerly adopted, and 
claimed a lineal descent from some of this spurious 
progeny of Priam. The idle humor of the learned 
flattered the imaginations of their countrymen; and 
each in his own land raised up a fictitious person- 
age, who was declared to have left his name to the 
people. . . . Such is the corruption of the earliest 
history, either to gratify the idle pride of the people 
or to give completeness to inquiries extending 

beyond knowledge/' 

Isaac Disraeli. 

'"Romance had long before taken root in the court 
of Henry the First, where, under the patronage of 
Queen Maud, the dreams of Arthur, so long cher- 
ished by the Celts of Brittany, and which had 
traveled to Wales in the train of the exile Rhys ap 
Tewdor, took shape in the 'History of the Britons,' 
by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Myth, legend, tradi- 
tion, the classical pedantry of the day, Welsh hopes 
of future triumph over the Saxons, the memories 
of the crusades, and of the world-wide dominion 



CRITICISM ON LEGENDS 23 1 

of Charles the Great, were mingled together by 
this daring fabulist in a work whose popularity 
became at once immense." 

JoJin Richard Green. 

"It is probable that Geoffrey was not particular 
whether he obtained his materials from old chroni- 
clers, Welsh bards, floating tradition, or from his 
own imagination. His book left its impress on the 
historical imagination of the Middle Ages. Had it 
not been for Geoffrey's history, the dramas of 
'King Lear' and 'Cymbeline' might never have 
been suggested to Shakespeare." 

Reuben Post Halleck. 

'The book [Geoffrey's history] has, of course, no 
resemblance to history in our sense of the word. 
The author claims to have gathered his materials 
from the Breton or Armorican book, but even in 
his own day his tales were regarded as fabulous. 
However, he is a great romancer, and many of the 
stories, which were very acceptable to the people 
of his day, have retained a place in literature. . . . 
Spenser, Drayton, Shakespeare, and Milton are 
indebted to him indirectly; and whether he was 
inventor or compiler, his Latin book has been one 
of the fountain heads of English fiction." 

Charles F. Johnson. 

'"It is well for those who study English literature 
to remember that in these two places [Wales and 



232 THE STORY OF THE BRITONS 

Cornwall] the Britons remained as a distinct race, 
with a distinct literature of their own; because the 
stories and the poetry of the Britons crept after- 
wards into English literature and had a great influ- 
ence upon it. The whole tale of King Arthur, of 
which English poetry and even English prose is so 
full, was a British tale. The imaginative work of 
the conquered afterwards took captive their fierce 
conquerors. ... It [Geoffrey's history] was, indeed, 
only a clever putting together and invention of a 
number of Welsh legends, but it was the beginning 
of story-telling in our land/' 

Stopjord Brooke. 

''The stories ['Geoffrey's Legends'] thus pre- 
served and handed down have had an enormous 
influence on literature generally, but especially on 
English literature. They became familiar to the 
continental nations; and they even appeared in 
Greek, and were known to the Arabs. With the 
exception of the translation of the Bible, probably 
no book has furnished so large an amount of liter- 
ary material to English writers." 

Prof. T. Gilray, in the Brit annua. 



GENERAL NOTES 
BRITANNIA 

The prophetic character of the ancient symbol- 
ical picture of Britannia is very striking. When 
the picture was drawn by the ancient Romans, it 
was scarcely conceivable that the Northern Island, 
far remote and supposedly peopled by barbarians, 
should ever become a power among the nations — 
least of all that it should ever claim to rule the 
seas. Yet the naval power of the British Empire 
of to-day could not be more happily symbolized 
than by that figure of a majestic woman seated 
upon an ocean rock and holding a trident. The 
design was an unconscious prophecy of two-thou- 
sand years to come. 

But the scepter of the sea is not the only remark- 
able feature of this singularly interesting concep- 
tion. Scarcely less significant is the helmet worn by 
the seated figure. It is the helmet of Troy, which 
was a reminiscence of a thousand years when the 
picture was drawn. This would seem to be a strong 
evidence that in Roman days the Britons clung 
tenaciously to legendary persons and events which 
connected them remotely, in some way, with the 
Trojan lore of the Eastern Mediterranean lands. 

233 



234 GENERAL NOTES 

GOG AND MAGOG 

In the Guildhall in London are two old statues 
of wood, fourteen feet in height, which represent 
ancient giants, and are popularly known as "Gog" 
and "Magog." They are greatly endeared to the 
populace. It is believed that their names are 
derived from Goemagot, which word, being divided 
and doing service for both, has been confounded 
with the Gog and Magog of Scripture. In former 
centuries, and for how long a period no one knows, 
it was the custom annually to carry enormous effi- 
gies of giants in the Lord Mayor's parade. In the 
same way a gigantic effigy is annually borne about 
the streets in Brittany to this day. These are 
interesting souvenirs of the very ancient traditions 
relating to the extermination of giants in the Island 
of Albion. 

THE HOLY GRAIL 

The stories of the Holy Grail form no part of 
the ancient British legend. They are pure fiction. 
Yet they exert a singular fascination upon the 
people, who are reluctant to concede their charac- 
ter as simple inventions. Even so profound a 
scholar as Wendell Phillips was led to make the 
following statement, a few decades since, in his 
famous popular lecture on "Ancient Arts": "The 
celebrated vase of the Genoa Cathedral was con- 
sidered a solid emerald. The legend of it was, 



GENERAL NOTES 235 

that it was one of the treasures that the Queen of 
Sheba gave to Solomon, and that it was the iden- 
tical cup out of which the Saviour drank at the 
Last Supper. And when Napoleon besieged 
Genoa, the Jews offered to loan the Senate three 
millions of dollars on that single article as security. 
Napoleon took it and carried it to France and 
gave it to the Institute. Somewhat reluctantly the 
scholars said: 'It is not a stone; we hardly know 
what it is.'" 



BOOKS FOR REFERENCE AND FOR 

READING 

For the more mature readers of this volume, who 
may desire to study the subject of ancient Britain 
and to read the literature relating to British legend, 
the following partial list of generally available 
books is presented: 

Reed's (Henry) "English History in Shakespeare's 
Plays." 

Elton's (C.) "Origins of English History." 

Wright's (T.) "The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon." 

Giles's (J. A.) "History of the Ancient Britons," and 
"Six Old English Chronicles" (including the "His- 
tory of the Britons," by Geoffrey of Monmouth — 
Bohn's Library). 

Smith's (C. R.) "Roman London." 

Rhys's (J.) "Celtic Britain," "Celtic Folklore," and 
"Studies in the Arthurian Legend." 

Scarth's "Roman Britain" (Early Britain Series). 

Skene's (W. F.) "The Four Ancient Books of Wales." 

Bulfinch's (T.) "The Age of Chivalry." 

Tennyson's (Lord Alfred) "Idylls of the King," "Sir 
Galahad," etc. 

N.utt's (A.) "Studies in the Legend of the Holy Grail." 

Shakespeare's "Cymbeline, " and "King Lear." 

Fletcher's "Bonduca" (tragedy). 

Mark Twain's "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court." 

Harper's (G. McL.) "The Legend of the Holy Grail." 

236 



BOOKS FOR REFERENCE AND FOR READING 237 

Guerber's (H. A.) "Legends of the Middle Ages." 
Church's "Early Britain." 
Disraeli's "Amenities of Literature." 
Dickens's "Pickwick Papers," No. 36. 
Spenser's "Faerie Queene," Book II, Canto 10. 
Milton's "Comus; a Masque." 
Lowell's "The Vision of Sir Launfal." 
Lytton's "King Arthur." 

REIGNS OF THE ROMAN EMPERORS MEN- 
TIONED IN THIS VOLUME 

Julius Caesar (lived B.C. 100-44; assassinated at the 

beginning of his reign). 
Claudius, a.d. 41-54. 
Vespasian, 69-70. 
Trajan, 98-117. 
Hadrian, 1 17-138. 
Septimius Severus, 193-211. 
Caracalla, 211-217. 

( Diocletian, 285-305. 

1 Maximian, 286-305. 

Constantine the Great, 306-337. (Sole ruler, 323-337.) 
Gratian, 375"383- 
Honorius, 395-423. 



PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 

A'-che-ron (ke) Ber'-gi-on (ji) 

Ad-al-gi'-sa (je) Bleg'-a-bred 

yE-ne'-as j Bo-ad"-i-ce'-a 

iE-ne'-id I Bun-du'-ca 

A-gric'-o-la j Bren'-ni-us 

Al'-ban (awl) | Bren'-nus 

Al'-bans (al) J Brut 

Al'-bi-on I Bru'-tus 
Al-lec'-tus 

Am-phib'-o-lus Caer (car) 

An-a-cle'-tus Cad'-wal 

An-te'-nor Cal'-a-ter 

An-tig'-o-nus Ca-nu'-tus 

A-qui-taine' (acwi) Car-a-cal'-la 

Ar"-i-ma-thae'-a Ca-rac'-ta-cus 

f Ar'-te-gal Car-tis-man'-du-a 

1 Arth-gal'-lo Ca-rau'-si-us (zhi) 

Ar-vir'-a-gus I Cas-wal'-lon (wol) 

As-ca'-ni-us I Cas"-si-vel-lau'-nus 

As-cle"-pi-od'-o-tus Cat'-i-gern 

Au-re'-li-us Clo'-ten 

A-za'-ra Cog"-i-dub'-nus 

( Co'-el 

Bar-clen'-ses (seez) I Co-il'-lus 

Bas"-si-a'-nus Col'-ches-ter 

\ Bed'-ver Con'-stan-tine 

I Bed'-i-vere Con-stan'-ti-us (shi) 

Be-la'-ri-us Con-\ven'-na 

23S 



PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 239 

J Cor-de'-li-a Fa-ga'-nus 

1 Cor-de-il'-la Fi-dele' 

( Co-rin'-e-us Flol'-lo 

( Co'-rine (rin) 

Cou'-lin (coo) Gal'-a-had 

Cu"-ne-da'-gi-us (ji) Ge-no'-ren 

\ Cym'-be-line (sim) Gen-u-is'-sa (jen) 

( Kym"-be-li'-nus (kim) Ge-raint' 

Ge'-ta (je) 

Da'-ni-us Gil'-das 

Deb'-on Go"-e-ma'-got* 

Di-a'-na Gof-fa'-ri-us 

Di'-do ( Gon'-er-il 



Di-me'-ti-a (shi) ( Gon-or-il'-la 

Di-o-cle'-tian (shan) J Gor'-bo-duc (duke) 



Dun-wal'-lo (wol) ( Gor"-bo-gu'-do 

Du-va'-nus Gor-bo'-ni-an 

Gra'-ti-an (shi) 

E-bor -a-cum, or Guich'-thlac (gwic) 

Eb"-o-ra'-cum Gui-de'-ri-us (gwi) 

E-brau'-cus Guin'-e-vere (gwin) 

E-laine' Guith'-e-lin (gwith) 

El'-dol Gur'-gi-unt (ji) 

El'-i-dure Guen"-do-lce'-na (le) 
El-sin'-gi-us (ji) 

E'-nid Ha'-dri-an 

Ep"-i-cu-re'-an Ha'-mo 

Est'-rild Hel'-e-na 

Ev"-e-li'-nus Hen'-gist (heng) 

*See "Gog and Magog" in Webster's "International Dictionary' 
("Dictionary of Fiction"). 



240 



PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 



He-rb'-di-an 
Hu'-di-bras 

Iach'-i-mo (yac) 
Ig'-no-ge (je) 
Im'-o-gen 

Ju'-ve-nal 

Kim'-a-rus 

Lan'-ce-lot 

La-ti'-nus 

Laun'-fal 

La-vin'-i-a 

Le'-il 

Le"-o-ge'-ci-a (shi) 

Lo'-crin 

Lu'-ci-us 

Man"-du-bra'-ti-us (shi) 

Ma'-ri-us 

Mar'-ti-a (shi) 

Mar-ti'-al (shi) 

Mau"-re-ta'-ni-a 

Mem-pri'-ci-us (prishi) 

Mer'-lin 

MoT-mu-tine 

Mor'-vid-us 

Nen'-ni-us 
Nor'-ma 



Oc-ta'-vi-us 
O-nes'-i-mus 
O-ro-ve'-so (va) 
Os-to'-ri-us 

Pen'-dra-gon 

Pan'-dra-sus 

Par-tho'-lo-im 

Pas-cen'-ti-us (shi) 

Per'-e-dure 

Pha'-ra-oh 

Phi-le'-ni-an 

Phce-ni'-cian (fenishan) 

Pi-sa'-ni-o 

Pol'-li-o 

Pol-y-ae'-nus (e) 

Pos'-thu-mus 

Pu'-dens 

Re'-gan 

Ri-val'-lo 

Rom'-u-lus 

Row-e'-na 

Rus"-ci-ca'-da 

Sab-ri'-na 
Sa-H'-nae (ne) 
Scip'-i-o (sip) 
Se-ve'-rus 
Si-lu'-res (reez) 
Stone'-henge 
Sue-to'-ni-us 



PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 24 1 

Tac'-i-tus (tas) U'-ther 
Ten"-u-an'-ti-us (shi) 

Tot'-ness Ver-u-la'-mi-um 

Tri-fin'-gus (fing) Ves-pa'-si-an (zhi) 

Tri"-no-ban'-tes (teez) j Vi'-den 



\ Troy No-vant' ( Wi-den 

\ Tri"-no-van'-tum Vi-ge'-ni-us 

Tu'-ronus Viv'-i-an 

Tyr-rhe'-ni-an Vor'-ti-gern 



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